


Hope on Board

by mochegato



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Accidental Pregnancy, Angst with a Happy Ending, But Separately, Dick Grayson Has Issues, Dickinette, Dickinette February, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Jason and Adrien are going to uncle the hell out of this kid, Platonic Adrienette, Platonic Jasonette - Freeform, Pregnant Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 93,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29159664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochegato/pseuds/mochegato
Summary: Marinette ends up going home with Dick Grayson and ends up pregnant after a drunken night of dancing.  Now they both need to decide if they want to be in a relationship and come to terms with parenthood and how that changes their lives.  Dick would do anything to keep his family safe, keep what happened to his family or Bruce's from happening to Marinette and the baby, even if that means losing them.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Jason Todd, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Dick Grayson
Comments: 280
Kudos: 465





	1. Boy's Night Out

**Author's Note:**

> a tiny bit of swearing and a tiny bit of smut in the second chapter, but nothing explicit.

“Okay,” Dick boomed, bringing the room’s attention to himself. “Weapons on the counter.” He raised an eyebrow at the disgruntled objections around the room. “We are going out to have fun. We are not going to take guns or knives or arrows to the bar. This is a night off. This night is to relax and blow off steam. Boy’s night out.”

“Having a gun does relax me!” Jason mumbled around the bite of apple in his mouth.

“Naw, it’s the shooting that relaxes you,” Roy pointed out shoving his head away as he walked past him.

“No guns!” Dick grabbed the gun out of Jason’s thigh holster as he passed by and tossed it onto the counter.

“Hey!” Jason yelled, grabbing Dick’s shirt and violently pulling him back to face Jason. “ _Don’t_ touch my guns.”

Dick held his hands up in surrender and waited quietly for Jason to let go. Once Jason had backed off and taken another bite of his apple, Dick shook his head. “See that there, is exactly why we need a night out and no weapons. I expect all weapons on this counter before we walk out that door.” He stared Jason and Roy down.

“Why are we going to a club if we just want to talk?” Tim pointed out with a defeated sigh. “Loud music, people bumping into you, lights flashing… not the ideal atmosphere for _talking_.”

“We’re also blowing off steam and a distraction while we talk so Jason doesn’t get bored and start fighting is not a bad idea,” Dick pointed out. “Which brings us back to no weapons.”

Jason huffed and walked over to the counter keeping eye contact with Dick as he started removing his knife and his backup knife and his small knife and his backup gun and laid them on the counter one at a time. “Thank you, Jason. Roy?” 

Roy sighed and removed his knife and a gun. Dick raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. “What? I’m not a paranoid asshole like him.” He motioned to Jason.

“Tim?” Dick questioned with a stern look.

“Like I carry weapons on me when I’m not in the suit,” he scoffed.

Dick stared him down waiting for him to admit having weapons. When Tim didn’t fold under his stare, Dick nodded and looked back to the group. “Fine.” He reached behind him to pull off his tee shirt, throwing it over the back of the couch and grabbing a button up shirt instead. 

Tim stared at the shirt he put on as he buttoned it. “That’s what you’re wearing?”

“Yeah… what? I like it.”

Jason opened his mouth to comment but instead glared at Roy when he smacked him upside the head to stop him from saying what they all were thinking. "If Wally were here, you'd let him say it," he muttered.

"Well, Wally's sick isn't he? So he's not here." Roy muttered back.

Dick looked between them and finally gave up waiting. He shook his head and moved to the door. “Let’s go. We’re going to hang out, drink, dance, and have fun.”

“And get laid,” Roy cheered.

“Not about getting laid,” Dick singsonged as he walked through the door. 

“But we’re totally going to,” Roy whispered to Jason. “Well, we,” he motioned between himself and Jason, “are going to. Tim’s boy is out of town and Dick’s on his own with that shirt.”

“Whatever, I just can’t believe he thought those were my only weapons,” Jason scoffed.

“Or that I didn’t have any,” Tim agreed. “Either we’re getting better or he’s getting worse.”

<><><><><>

The bar was more crowded than they expected, but they had still been able to find a table far away from the dancefloor where they could actually talk and watch the other patrons while they drank. 

“Dick, we need another round,” Roy pointed out, motioning toward the bar.

“And?” Dick scoffed not even looking at him, keeping his eyes on the dancefloor instead. 

“ _And_ we want the drinks now not in an hour,” Jason retorted quickly.

“We all know if any of us go it’s completely hit and miss when the bartender acknowledges us and with the bar as busy as it is, it could take a while. But every time you go up, he makes a beeline straight for you.” Tim continued flatly.

“Heh, _straight_ ,” Roy chuckled. 

Dick rolled his eyes but got up anyway. “Fine. I’ll just buy all night long.”

“Now that’s what I call a good night out,” Jason cheered, holding his beer up toasting Dick. “Get me two.”

Dick pushed through the crowd and finally settled into a spot leaning against the bar. As soon as he appeared, the bartender made his way over to him, bypassing patrons who had been waiting since before he got there. Dick sighed at the proof the others were right. He ordered their drinks with a smile. No use upsetting the man pouring their drinks and controlling whether they got served or not.

He looked up and down the bar while he waited for their drinks. His eyes caught on a woman a few people down from him. She was waiting patiently and gorgeously for her drink. Her dark hair was pulled up in a high bun, but tendrils had fallen around her face from vigorous dancing. Her body was covered in a light sheen of sweat and her long-sleeved, bright blue crop top looked like it was meant to flutter lightly over her top but instead it clung to her sweat-covered body as she moved, occasionally giving a flash of the black bra underneath. She was flushed from dancing giving her a luminescent look. But the thing that truly drew his attention was her smile. She had the most gorgeous, welcoming, exuberant smile on her face. It lit up her whole face, causing her eyes to crinkle.

He started to push away from the bar to talk to her when he saw a man drape his arms over her shoulders. His head was positioned so the back of his head was blocking Dick’s view of her face so he couldn’t see if her expression was happy about the intrusion or upset, and his yellow and red shirt that hung loosely off him blocked Dick's view of her body language. Dick leaned back against the bar, but kept an eye on her in case the embrace was not welcome. How bad was it that he kind of hoped it wasn’t? However, it quickly became apparent that it was not unwelcome. “Come on Bugaboo, let’s get back out there. I want to have fun tonight. Maybe find someone to finally make out with me.” 

The woman rolled her eyes at him. “Adrien, almost anyone here would make out with you. Straight men would make out with you if you asked.” She and the man nodded to the bartender in thanks when he dropped off their shots.

“It can’t just be anyone though. I’m looking for a sign. I’m waiting for the universe to show me my future.” He stretched out his hand in front of him as if showing off his future.

“In a nightclub that is probably a front for one of the mob families,” she deadpanned. He shrugged at her. “I cannot stress enough how much that’s not how this whole thing works. The universe isn’t going to give you a sign, especially not in a dive bar while you’re drunk. You make your own destiny, my child, this isn’t Serendipity. Now, drink,” she commanded. 

Dick watched as they clinked their glasses together and downed the shots before returning to the dancefloor. His eyes followed her as she started dancing. He hummed to himself, clearly together but not _together_. Their boy’s night had been going on long enough, hadn’t it? They had been talking long enough that it would be acceptable for him to get on the dancefloor himself soon, right? He hummed to himself. He might have to try to find her later. He tore his eyes away when the bartender brought his drinks. He winked at the bartender in thanks and returned to their table.

He brought the drinks back to the table, joking and reminiscing with the three of them. The point was to get closer to each other, after all. All throughout their conversation, he kept an eye on the bar for the woman he had seen earlier. The next time she went up to get a drink, Dick excused himself to get one as well. They were close enough. He wanted to get closer to someone else now. The others at the table raised their eyebrows, giving each other knowing looks.

By the time he made his way through the crowd to get near the bar, the woman was facing off against a man who was easily twice her size and mostly muscle. “Hey, asshole! Back off!” 

“Excuse me? What the fuck business is it of yours?” he growled, crowding her personal space in an effort to intimidate her.

The woman clearly didn’t get the message, furrowing her brows in an angry glare. “Grabbing someone’s ass and attempting to grab other areas as well without their permission is sexual assault, fucker! She clearly does not know you and does not want you touching her.”

“You have no proof of anything,” he snarled at her. “Now sit that pretty, tight, little ass down and maybe I’ll let you kneel in front of me a little later.”

The woman’s mouth dropped as she stared at the man. “Yep, that’s the expression you’ll be making later.” He reached to pat her on her ass. Dick lunged to grab his hand before he could reach her, but he was just a beat too slow. Instead, the woman grabbed the man’s hand and twisted along with his momentum, pushing him down as she twisted. She moved her feet slightly to trip him, throwing him even further off balance. She twisted his arm at an uncomfortable angle as he fell, forcing him to turn over on his stomach so she could pin him to the floor once he finally landed. “Also, sexual assault? Illegal, asshole. Doing it to more people, surprisingly, doesn’t make it less illegal.”

“It isn’t sexual assault if you want it,” he jeered at her.

She scoffed at him, making sure to keep the pressure on her hold as she did. “I doubt there has ever been anything living or otherwise that has wanted you looking at them let alone touching them.” Dick chuckled at her response.

“Excuse me, what is going on here?” A man Dick recognized as the bouncer asked. He was eying the woman who was pinning the man down with heavy suspicion.

“That man sexually assaulted that woman and when this woman pointed it out he tried to sexually assault her as well,” Dick answered for her.

The bouncer looked between the first woman, the second woman, the man on the floor, and Dick. He finally nodded and grabbed the man by his jacket collar. “Come on mother fucker, we’re going to get your picture then you are _never_ coming in here again, understood?”

“Do you know who I am? You’re making a monumental mistake,” the man screamed as he was getting dragged away.

The black haired woman didn’t bother watching the man as he was hauled away. She shifted her focus entirely onto the blonde woman who had been assaulted. “Hey, are you okay? Can I get you a drink to steady your nerves?”

The blonde shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m okay. It happens. You go to a club, it’s going to happen.”

The black haired woman and Dick both gaped at her. “It shouldn’t happen ever. If anyone ever does anything like that to you again, kick their asses or call someone over to do it for you. He had no right to touch you. Going out to have fun doesn’t make you an open target,” Dick interceded. “Assholes like that should feel unsafe in clubs not you.”

The blonde shrugged at him. “Thanks for your help anyway. Can I buy you a drink?”

The black haired woman shook her head and gave her a gentle smile. “No, thank you. I just refreshed mine. Have fun, yeah?” The blonde nodded and waved before returning to the dancefloor.

The black haired woman collapsed onto a barstool with a sigh. She chuckled and shook her head as she looked at her drink. “Thank you by the way. I don’t know if the bouncer would have trusted just my word.”

“Not a problem.” He took a seat next to her. “I’m glad I could do _something_ to help. I tried to grab him before he could get to you but I wasn’t as fast as you. You were really impressive.”

She shot him a glance from the corner of her eye but didn’t really stop to look at him. The charming smile he shot her faltered when she didn’t look close enough to actually see it. His liquor fueled mind frowned at the lack of attention. “Thanks,” she mumbled. She drank the rest of her drink in one gulp, which Dick thought was quite impressive considering it was full and not a shot. 

She laid the glass on the counter harder than it seemed like she meant to and continued to stare at it for a few moments. “Hey,” he leaned a little closer to her while still giving her space. “You okay? You want another drink?” He motioned to the bartender for two more drinks for them. 

She rubbed her face and took a beat before turning to finally face him with a thankful smile. “You really don’t have to.” 

Dick’s charming smile made it back to his lips, even wider than it had been before. “No, but you deserve it for protecting the club.”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t…” She looked down at his shirt and balked, staring at it suspiciously. After a few moments, she looked up toward the sky with an annoyed scowl that still looked adorable, like an irritated kitten. “Am I a joke to you?” she called out. 

His charming smile morphed into a look of confusion. “I’m sorry?”

She waved her arms like she was waving away the concern. “It’s nothing. Interesting shirt. Fan of ladybugs?”

He looked down at his shirt as though seeing it for the first time, “Oh… uh… I just liked the pattern. I don’t think I would have even recognized them as a ladybug if you hadn’t explicitly pointed it out.” The woman looked back up toward the sky with a menacing look he didn’t quite understand. He thanked the bartender when he served their drinks and turned back to her. “Do you… uh… like ladybugs?” 

The woman gave a defeated sigh and looked down to her shoes. When she looked back up, a resigned but amused smile was on her lips. “No, it’s just… my friends used to call me their everyday ladybug.”

Dick cocked his head to the side studying her curiously. There was something going on, but he couldn’t quite make it out yet. But there was no way he was going to miss an opportunity to dance with a beautiful, strong, sweet woman. “I’m Dick.” He stuck his hand out to shake hers.

She took his hand and gave him a bright smile, “Marinette.”

He looked over to the dancefloor and back to her. “Do you want to dance?” Her smile brightened, making his heartbeat pick up. She pulled on the hand she was still holding and guided him onto the dancefloor, drinks still in hand.


	2. It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Ends Up Pregnant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mean... she had to get pregnant somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a PG version of smut, pretty much just kissing. If you don't like reading that, I put a summary of the chapter in the end notes.

“You’re falling behind,” she smirked at him, twisting again to finish an elaborate move. She could feel the alcohol surge through her hazing her mind and dulling her inhibitions, in particular the one dictating she remember how uncoordinated she is so she doesn’t try any daring moves outside of her suit and the one that dictates she not attract any attention to herself by showing off her questionably obtained moves. Moves like the ones she was currently putting on full display. 

But it wasn’t her fault really. Dick had challenged her to a dance off. He _challenged_ her. Then he turned out to be stupidly skilled. She _had_ to pull out the big guns. She wasn’t about to lose to some stupidly handsome, stupidly sweet, stupidly talented… what was she saying? “I think you must’ve missed my last few moves. At best for you, we’re tied,” Dick called to her with his own smirk, grazing his fingers across the small of her back. Oh yeah, that’s right. She wasn’t going to lose.

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully before bursting into full belly laughs. He picked her up and spun her around, matching her laughter. This felt good. This felt right. This was a cosmic reward for everything it had thrust on her since she was fourteen and she never wanted it to stop. She could feel a blissful sensation radiating out from where Dick’s strong hands were gripping her hips, pulling her closer to him. 

She raised her arms crossing them behind her head as she moved to the beat and turned to shoot Dick a teasing look. The bright blue of her shirt brought out her eyes and made them shine even brighter. She looked up at him with a brilliant smile and eyes shining bright. Dick froze to take in the sight, unable in his liquor induced haze to really process how he was feeling. 

It made Dick feel like electricity was surging through him. Those eyes seemed to have to power to heal wounds he didn’t even know he had. He wanted to see that look every day. He wanted to be the reason for that look. He suddenly stopped dancing and cupped her face, an intense look in his eyes. He leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate, hungry kiss. Marinette froze for a moment in shock from his sudden seriousness before pulling him closer by his shirt and returning the kiss with every bit the same amount of passion.

He pulled away still looking in her eyes and holding her close. They swayed together in the middle of the crowd, bodies glued together. Clear, bright blue meeting intense, adoring blue. Lost in their own world just for them. They were knocked out of their stupor, quite literally, by the dancers around them bumping into them. They broke eye contact and looked around sheepishly just now remembering the crowd around them. She looked back at him with a wide smile and started dancing to the music again, keeping him close, trying to keep physical contact with him in some way the entire time, which he reciprocated, refusing not to have his hands touching her body somewhere.

She gave him a coquettish smirk and spun away from him, still holding his hand as she spun. Unfortunately, at the same time a dancer next to her stepped back for a dance move of their own. Her foot tangled with his and they both fell. Dick caught her easily, his previously flirty eyes now filled with concern. He pulled her close to him, cradling her to his body. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, an embarrassed flush appearing on her cheeks. She looked over to the other dancer. “Hey, you okay?” 

“Eh. It happens,” he smiled and went right back to dancing.

She giggled and turned to Dick with a shrug. Dick looked unconvinced. “Maybe we can sit for a minute. Get you some water and talk?” he offered instead, his eyes conveying the worry he felt. He carried her to a table along the dancefloor to make sure she was okay.

His concern filled Marinette with an overwhelming feeling of warmth. He wasn’t just chasing a physical high, he was worried about her. She looked in his eyes and gave him an adoring smile. She cupped his face and pulled him closer to place a slow, sweet kiss on his lips. He watched her with a dazed look as she pulled away. “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Honestly, I’m a bit of a klutz to begin with and I’m drunk. I’m surprised worse hasn’t happened. This was barely anything. Accidents happen. I’m okay.” She gave him a smirk. “Come on, I want to get back to winning.”

He watched her for a few extra seconds to make sure she meant it then nodded with a smirk. “I don’t think I lose either way.”

She stood up, her chest brushing against his as she stood. “Me either,” she whispered in his ear before leading him out to the dancefloor.

He spun her around and wrapped his arms around her as they swayed to the music, pulling her tight against his body; her back pushing against his chest, her hips rubbing against his hips as they swayed to the beat. He groaned involuntarily at the sensation. She felt so right in his arms. She made his whole body vibrate in anticipation. She reached up behind her to run her hands up his neck and into his hair, scraping her nails along his scalp and pulling slightly on his hair.

He groaned and clenched his hands around her hips. She bit her lower lip and turned her head to watch him through her lashes. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her mind was racing, but no matter how much it raced, it always returned to the exhilaration she felt when his hands or his arms or his mouth touched her. She wanted to get lost in the sensation, the pleasant, soothing, tantalizing sensation that washed over her body emanating from wherever any part of Dick’s body was touching her.

The way she was looking at him stole his breath and his mind empty. He needed to be closer. He needed her against him. He needed to keep her looking at him like that. He ran his fingers along her jaw and down her neck. He buried his head in her neck, placing hot, wet kisses up her neck until his lips were brushing the shell of her ear. “Want to get out of here? Somewhere we can actually… talk?” 

He felt her shudder at the sensation of his breath against her ear. She turned around to wind her arms around his neck again. She pulled him down, pressing a heated, hungry kiss to his lips. He pressed his lips harder against hers, pressing out any air between their bodies. She pulled away after a few minutes and pressed her forehead to his chest as she gasped for breath. Dick ran his hands up and down her sides, feeling every curve and plane and firm muscle. “Is that a yes?” he whispered into her hair.

She nodded into his chest and looked back up at him with sultry eyes. “I have to tell my friend where I’m going and make sure he has a plan to get home.”

He grinned, running his fingers across the small of her back. “I’ll meet you at the front door?” She nodded, not trusting her voice, and pulled him down for another searing kiss. She walked away with an tantalizing smile over her shoulder. He watched her until he couldn’t make her out in the crowd anymore and went to wait for her at the front door. 

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long for her to meet him. She worked her way to him, the same alluring smile still on her lips, after only a few minutes. He returned her smile with an inviting one of his own. When she reached him, he brushed her hair out of her face and wrapped an arm around her waist, giving her a squeeze before resting his hand on her hip and making their way out of the club.

Jason stared incredulously as Dick walked out of the club trailing close behind a beautiful woman. He snorted and turned to Roy, raising his voice to imitate Dick’s, “This isn’t about getting laid. It’s about hanging out together and having fun. Boy’s night.”

Roy rested his elbow on Jason’s shoulder and shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe he’s going to get laid… and in that shirt.”

Tim came up between them, knocking Roy’s elbow down and patting both of them on the shoulder. “And before either of you.” Roy’s face went slack with realization and Jason cursed.

A cab ride later during which time they were mostly well behaved with only a modicum of wandering hands, Marinette and Dick were cuddled up on Dick’s couch popping M&M’s into their mouths, the only food he had in his apartment, between sips of their drinks. Marinette giggled and focused her attention on tossing an M&M up in the air in Dick’s direction. She cheered loudly as he caught it in his mouth with a grin. “Good toss,” he commended her, squeezing her closer and pressing his nose against the side of her face.

“Thanks.” She cuddled closer with a proud smile. “I have really good hand coordination… no wait… hand eye coordination! Clearly not that drunk despite how I sound. I’m blaming that on English. I’d be fine in English… French!” She pulled away slightly to give him an adoring look, running her hands back and forth over his stomach. “Good catching.” 

He chuckled and took another drink. “Thank you.”

She sighed and leaned her head against the back of the couch as he ran his fingers over her hip. She looked around the apartment, hazy eyes flitting from thing to thing without really registering any of them. Her eyes finally settled on a shirt that was thrown on the couch right behind Dick. She reached awkwardly over him, falling into him accidentally as she grabbed the shirt. She giggled when he pulled her onto his lap with a laugh. She held out the shirt to see what it was. She gave the shirt a double take. She recognized the design. She had created the design. He owned a shirt with her design on it. She started giggling uncontrollably. 

He gave her a confused look. “What?”

She held it up for him to see. “Yours?”

“Yeah, I was wearing that before we left. What? Not a fan?” he asked with a pout, uncertainty in his voice.

“No, no. I _love_ his music,” she assured him with that same secretive smile and booping him on the nose. “I take it you’re a fan of Jagged as well?”

“I am, in fact.” He gave an exaggerated nod. “I have all his albums. Every one.” He made an exaggerated sweeping motion toward his CD’s. “I love him and the artwork, especially this one.” He held the shirt up and shook it as though she might be uncertain of which design he was talking about. “It’s so creative and cool looking. You don’t even have to be a fan of Jagged to like it. I don’t know. I just really like his artist,” he rambled not noticing a dark blush settling on her cheeks. 

She surged up and captured his lips in a fervent kiss. He let out a surprised huff, but quickly melted into her lips, wrapping both arms around her and pulling her closer. After a few minutes he pulled away reluctantly, panting for breath. “What was that for?” he asked breathlessly. He cupped her cheek and pressed his forehead to hers.

“Nothing.” She gave him an effervescent smile and pulled away slightly to wave her hands in an uncoordinated motion trying to dismiss his interest. She held up the shirt again with a nostalgic smile. “This is one of my favorite designs too. And, I’ve been a huge fan of his since I was a kid.” 

“Right, he started in France didn’t he?” His voice was excited again. She nodded. He grinned at her and settled further into the couch, wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her a squeeze. “I like this. Tell me more about yourself. I want to know more.”

She smiled broadly at how excited he sounded. “I like this too. We’ll take turns. I want to hear more about you. Not just me. Don’t be selfish.” She gave him a mock stern look, pointing a finger in his face.

His smile beamed at her comment and gave her a curt, serious nod. “I would never. Okay. You first.” He took the shirt out of her hands and threw it over his shoulder.

She giggled at him, her eyes following the arc of the shirt as she thought about what she wanted to say. She took another gulp of her drink. “Let’s see. From France.” He nodded in confirmation and encouraged her to continue. “Paris, that’s in France. Went to university in New York, that’s in America. Really like whatever this is.” She held up her glass before finishing the rest of it. “Signed a deal with a company in Gotham and decided to move here and open a store. I’m a clothing designer.”

He nodded along as she talked, attempting to catalog each piece of information for later despite the information already melding together into nonsensical data points in his head. He looked down at her clothes. “You look amazing. Did you do it yourself?”

She gave him a radiant smile and wiggled in his lap in excitement at the compliment. “Thank you. I did. It's Nightwing themed.”

Dick choked on the drink he had just taken. He gave her a faux innocent smile. “Fan of his?”

Marinette watched him with concerned eyes for a few seconds to make sure he was okay before she answered. “Yeah. I think he’s a good… I mean…” she took a second to collect herself and look serious as she spoke as though this were an important conversation. “He has a really imprint… a really _impressive_ leadership style. Strong… and dynamic… and compassionate.” She counted off the attributes on her fingers to accentuate her point. “The way he connects with victims… I mean they all have their own way of connecting with people,” she quickly added not wanting to insult them as though they could just know she was talking about them, like their bat senses might be tingling. She looked down and furrowed her brow. “I guess his way just resonates with me more?” She looked up at Dick to see if he was following. He was watching her with something close to awe so she took that as a sign to continue.

“And his fighting technique! The things he can do? I’ve only ever seen one other person able to move like that and she had magic to help.” She made some wild, vague motions in the air to indicate flips. “But he’s just… like that. Completely human… at least so they say… I don’t know. Do you?” She looked to him with an inquisitive stare. She continued on without letting him answer, “and can do _that_. I mean… wow.” She continued talking completely oblivious to the way Dick’s cheeks were flushing and his eyes darkening. “Not to mention sexy. I mean damn…” she suddenly realized she was gushing about someone else while cuddled up in Dick’s lap. She looked at the now empty glass accusatorily. “Maybe I am that drunk. I really should stop talk…”

Dick obliged her wish, stopping her with a kiss before she could finish her sentence. He cupped her face and pulled her closer, pressing into her with a bruising volley of kisses. Her kisses tasted like the liquor and chocolate they had been consuming in an enticing combination of flavor that was just her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her, hungrily returning his kisses. He reached up into her hair and pulled out the band holding it up, releasing her hair and allowing his hands to wind into her hair. He gently pulled, prompting her to lean her head back giving him better access to her neck. He trailed wet kisses down her neck.

The moan she let out sent shivers down his spine. He had caused her to make that noise. The sound was like a spell forcing his full attention on her. His mind became consumed with trying to figure out how to get her to make it again and what other sounds she could make. She shifted so she was straddling his hips and rolled her hips slightly. He groaned in response and playfully nipped at her collar bone before ghosting his nose back up her neck as he trailed his nails up and down her back and along her hips. The feeling of his rough, calloused fingers against her skin caused goosebumps to rise across her skin wherever he had touched her showing a history of his contact.

She whimpered into his hair and worked her hands down his chest splaying out her fingers as she moved them against his body. She found his shirt’s hem and reached under it to feel his skin against hers. He gasped at the sensation and reached to pull his shirt off to grant her more access. She hummed in appreciation and ran her fingers along his muscles in his chest before pressing into him to deepen the kiss.

He reached under her shirt running his finger under the band on her bra, causing her to whimper into his mouth. He started pulling off her shirt but paused, pulling away from her just enough to whisper against her lips. “Wait. Do you want to do this?”

Marinette nodded, still staring at his lips before diving in to feel his lips on hers again.

He moaned into the kiss, getting lost in the sensation of her, her lips, her tongue, her taste, her skin, the weight on his hips and chest. He fought to pull himself out of his haze, but distancing away from her slightly. “Marinette.” He hooked his finger under her chin to get her to look at him. Once she had focused on his eyes he asked again. “I want to make sure. Do you want to keep going? If you don’t we can just keep doing this or we can stop.”

Marinette’s eyes turned soft. She traced his jaw slowly and bit her lower lip. “Do you have protection?”

He nodded, “I do,” he assured her.

She smiled and pressed closer to him. “Then yes. I want to keep going. Do you?”

“Definitely, yes,” he whispered huskily, pulling her shirt off and tossing it across the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Marinette dance and kiss.   
> She falls and he gets very concerned, making her like him even more.  
> They decide to go back to his apartment to talk  
> Excerpt from the chapter because I love this part: 
> 
> Jason stared incredulously as Dick walked out of the club trailing close behind a beautiful woman. He snorted and turned to Roy, raising his voice to imitate Dick’s, “This isn’t about getting laid. It’s about hanging out together and having fun. Boy’s night.”  
> Roy rested his elbow on Jason’s shoulder and shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe he’s going to get laid… and in that shirt.”  
> Tim came up between them, knocking Roy’s elbow down and patting both of them on the shoulder. “And before either of you.” Roy’s face went slack with realization and Jason cursed.
> 
> Back at his apartment, he says he is a big fan of Jagged Stone and the artist that does his album covers (Marinette).  
> She says her outfit was Nightwing themed and gushes about him.  
> They start getting intense and Dick asks if she is sure she wants to keep going.   
> She asks if he has protection.   
> When he says yes, she says she is and asks him if he is sure.  
> He says he is.


	3. What's in a Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette wakes up the morning after her night with... what's his name again?

The morning light seemed intent on waking up Marinette. However she moved, the light found her eyes to shine obnoxiously brightly in them. What is the point of blackout curtains if it doesn’t black out the light and the light gets in anyway? She groaned and threw her arm over her eyes. That reduced the light but my no means eliminated it. She tried to turn away from the light, but was met with resistance against her movement. She grunted, cursing the heavy blankets she used during the winter to stave off any hint of chill, and turned on her side anyway.

Her face scrunched up in confusion when she heard a contented hum sound next to her. Was Tikki sleeping in her bed again? She thought Tikki had sworn off doing that the third time Marinette had clocked her with a wayward arm in her sleep… in one night. Her eyes flew open when she felt an increased pressure around her waist, pulling her closer to a body. She barely managed to muffle the squeak she let out at the sight of the man, the very naked man from what she could feel on the rest of her also very naked body as their very, very naked bodies were pressed together.

She closed her eyes and let out a long breath. If she concentrated very hard, she could just barely remember flashes of the night before. Not that they were helpful flashes for remembering the events of the night before. They were mostly his charming smile, his captivating eyes, his soft and insistent lips, his rough but gentle hands. She blushed at the memory and fought burying her face in his very broad, chiseled chest.

She smiled and traced his jaw with her finger in a feather soft touch, trying not to wake him. He smiled sleepily in response, humming happily and tightening his grip around her waist to pull her even further into his strong embrace. She giggled quietly and placed a few kitten kisses on the underside of his jaw. She sighed and snuggled into his embrace. After a few minutes, her stomach growled, letting her know it did not appreciate the vast amounts of liquor she had consumed the night before, and into the early morning, without eating anything.

She imagined Dan… David! Devlin? Hmmm. She’d have to ask that when he woke up. Derrick! No… that wasn’t right either… Regardless, she was sure Dominic would appreciate something to eat as well. She carefully extricated herself from his arms so she could surprise him with a breakfast. She stood up and immediately fell back on the bed clutching her head. Ah yes, the other after effects of a night of drinking, the hangover. She glanced back to Nick… Nick? She quirked her lips to the side, that seemed closer and further away at the same time. She wondered if he would mind her raiding his medicine cabinet to look for some pain killers.

She stood back up slowly and looked around for her clothes, remembering belatedly that hers were back in the living room. She padded quietly out to the living room and found her panties as she walked in, next to his tee shirt and she pulled them both on. His shirt was large enough on her to reach mid-thigh. Stupid tall people she mumbled to herself. 

Her throat suddenly felt parched the closer she got to the kitchen. Maybe breakfast could wait in favor of water. She grabbed a glass from the drying rack next to the sink and filled it with cool water. She took a slow sip and pressed the glass against her forehead, savoring the cool liquid against her throbbing head. She leaned back against Duke’s counter and finally opened her eyes and seeing a flash of red in her peripheral view. Tikki! Tikki would surely know his name right?

“Tikki,” she whisper shouted looking around for where she had seen the flash earlier and moving into the living room. She nearly tripped over her pants and decided she might as well pull those on. She was _not_ anticipating sleeping with him again this morning. She was going to be responsible, damn it. Maybe after a date... if he even wanted to start a relationship. This might have been all he wanted. She groaned and started pulling her pants on, cursing sober her for designing such tight, hard to get on pants. Sober her was an inconsiderate bitch. “Tikki!” she growled out, slightly louder this time.

Tikki appeared next to her with a strained smile. “Hey, Marinette. How are you feeling today?”

“Like crap. Any ancient remedies you’d like to pass on?” Tikki gave her an apologetic look and shrugged. Marinette narrowed her eyes at her and poked her in the belly. “I don’t believe for a second you haven’t some across something in the last few million years, some magic potion you could conjure up. You just want me to suffer so I’ll learn a lesson. Joke’s on you. I refuse to learn from this and you can’t make me!” She stuck her tongue out at the kwami and crossed her arms over her chest.

Tikki rolled her eyes. “Marinette, you’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m being hungover,” she grumbled picking up the glass of water again to take another soothing sip. “Oh, actually, there is one thing I’d like to learn. I don’t suppose you picked up on his name, by any chance, did you?” She made her way back to her water as she waited for Tikki to answer.

“I believe I may have heard the name ‘Dick’ screamed a few…” she trailed off when she noticed Marinette wasn’t listening anymore, which wouldn’t be that concerning considering her current state but she had started breathing harder. “Marinette? Marinette, what’s wrong?” She flew in front of Marinette to get her focus back on Tikki.

Tikki followed her line of sight to the kitchen counter, more specifically, a massive piles of weapons on the kitchen counter. “That’s… that’s a lot of weapons, Tikki,” Marinette stuttered out breathlessly. “Why… why would he need that many weapons?” Her mind started racing. Oh God, she was in Gotham. The crime capital of the world. Why did she think she would end up with a good guy instead of a villain? This was a cosmic curse.

“Maybe he likes to be able to protect himself from villains?” Tikki offered weakly. “There is a lot of crime here. It makes sense that he would need to protect himself.”

Marinette nodded absentmindedly. She reached out to the knife slightly separated from the rest, staring at it with her full focus like a spell had been cast and she couldn’t look away. She was Aurora and this was her spinning wheel.

She had almost touched it when she heard a thump from the bedroom. She squeaked in surprise and dropped the glass of water, suddenly broken from the spell. Her heart was beating wildly and her mind racing with the sudden shift. She looked around frantically and made the split second decision to run. She didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t know who or what he was, but the miraculous, Tikki, was too important to risk. She couldn’t hesitate. She needed to protect Tikki. 

She ran to the door in a stupor. She yanked the door open and ran out without looking behind her, leaving the door to close on its own. But, just before the door closed, she pushed it back open a crack to reach in and grab her shoes. She was scared not stupid. She wasn’t going to run down the Gotham streets without shoes on. This time she made sure the door was closed behind her. After all, she might be wrong and he could be a good guy… who has his own armory in his kitchen, and she didn’t want him to get robbed because she left his door open. She closed it with more force than she intended in her haste.

Dick snapped his head to the direction of his kitchen when he heard a crash and immediately regretted it, cradling his head in his hands to let the blood settle even as he stood up to pull on his underwear and rush out into his living room, well walk fastish. That was the best he could manage under the circumstances. He was positive that was his front door. Had Marinette left? He looked around his apartment and finally pulled open his door to look in his hallway. Huh… he frowned. He had thought there was a connection there, more than just a one night stand, but she must have disagreed.

He walked back toward his living room but yanked his foot up with a sudden pain. He pulled it up to his chest to examine the source of the pain. He pulled out a sliver of glass and looked back down to the floor. He furrowed his brow in confusion at the shattered glass on the floor. He was not nearly sober enough to clean up that mess right now. He grabbed a paper towel and hopped to his couch, collapsing on it. 

He held the paper towel to his cut and laid his head on the back of the couch to try to ease his headache. He squirmed in the seat trying to get comfortable but something was poking into him. He reached behind him and pulled out Marinette’s bra. He stared at it. She left without her bra? She must not have been able to find it… here on the couch… out in the open… He furrowed his brow. He supposed she might have been in a hurry and didn’t look that hard. 

He scanned the room and saw her shirt strewn across the arm of his chair. That was harder to explain. There was no way she had missed her shirt unless something had happened or she hadn’t even bothered looking. Something that made her drop a glass and leave her clothes behind. He just needed to figure out if he should try to find out what that something was. She had left without saying anything for a reason… but it seemed like something happened to make her run. And if he was being honest with himself, he really, really wanted to see those smiling eyes again. And if she was in danger… He reached out and grabbed the shirt, studying it as though it might give him some answers, missing the flash of red that flew over a building across the street.


	4. Acing the Test by Not Preparing Properly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets the results back on her test.

“Are you under the impression the third test might give you a different result?” Adrien asked with a strained amusement.

“We’ve seen stranger things,” Marinette spared a glance from the test on the counter in front of her to glare at him. “And if I was in any way lucky,” this time she glared at Tikki who shrunk away behind Adrien while Plagg cackled at her, “it would.”

She returned her attention to the test only to give an aggravated yell. “Son of a bitch!” She grabbed the edge of the bathroom counter to support her as she folded over gasping for breath.

Adrien nodded thoughtfully. “It might be.”

She turned her head to glare at him. “Are you kidding me! Really?” He gave her a sheepish shrug even as he grimaced. She groaned and collapsed on the floor, leaning against the wall and pulling her knees into her chest. The distant thought occurred to her that she wasn’t going to be able to do that for much longer. She wasn’t going to be able to do a lot of things for much longer. God, how could she be so stupid. She pulled her hair in frustration.

She was just starting up her business. She had just entered into a partnership that was supposed to last at least two years. How was she going to manage the project if she was throwing up and had to take months off to take care of the baby? What if there were complications? How was she going to take care of the baby? How was she going to support a baby if her business failed? But how was her business going to succeed if she was focusing on making sure her baby had the attention they deserved.

She was broken from her spiraling thoughts by a weight across her shoulders. She turned her head, still letting it rest on her knees, to look at Adrien. He reached over to wipe away the tears she only then realized she had been crying. “It’ll be okay, Bugaboo. There are options if you don’t want the baby and if you do, there are options.”

She gave him a weak smile, keeping her head on her knees for a few more moments before switching to lay her head on his shoulder. “How am I supposed to get my company up and running and raise a baby on my own? It takes so much time, both of them. I’m half a world away from my family and most of our friends, fresh out of school, starting a business, entering a new partnership, which might get reneged if I can’t fulfill the requirements, and all alone. How do I do this?”

Adrien hugged her closer. “You’re not alone, Princess. I’ll be right by you every step of the way. Even when you tell your parents.”

She gave a halfhearted laugh. “Yeah, that’s going to be a bloodbath.”

Adrien rested his head on hers. “No it won’t. Do you have any idea how excited your Dad is going to be about being a grandfather? They’re going to be worried about you. They’ll have the same concerns for you that you do. They won’t be mad.”

“The father might be,” she hedged.

Adrien was silent for a moment. “You’re going to tell him?”

“I think he deserves to know. This baby might have a loving family nearby. I don’t want to take that away if it is available.” Her voice was starting to get stronger. This was a decision she could control. She could control whether she invited the father to be a part of their lives. She couldn’t control his answer, but she could control the ask.

“You’re not worried about the weapons?” Adrien asked carefully.

“I am. But Tikki is right, it could be an innocent explanation. I owe it to him to have the chance to explain.”

Adrien nodded, determination settling in his eyes. “Okay, we tell him.”

“We?” she asked with an amused smile.

“We,” he confirmed. “I said you weren’t going to do this alone. I meant it. I’ll be there to support you. I’ll help you find him and stay nearby when you tell him, if you want me to.” He squeezed her again. “So, what do you remember about where he lives?”

“It had a kitchen with weapons, a living room with a comfortable couch, and a bedroom with a bed that didn’t squeak,” she deadpanned.

He shot her a playful glare. “You can’t remember anything?”

“I remember… it was a door in the middle of a long corridor of doors on a floor a few floors up in a building in Gotham.”

“Oh that’s helpful.”

“I don’t know!” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “I was still drunk and panicked and swung away as Ladybug so I don’t even have stores I passed to go off of.”

“What do you remember, for real this time?”

She turned to stare at a point in the distance, trying to focus her mind and order her thoughts. What did she remember? Not much. She had flashes. She remembered the feelings he stirred in her. She smiled nostalgically as she described her memories. “A smile, a touch, his eyes looking soft and sweet. The feeling of being watched out for, of being wanted, more than just physically.”

Adrien gave a long suffering sigh and collapsed his legs to the bathroom floor. “Well that’s helpful to track him down.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and pushed him away. “You asked what I remembered. I didn’t even remember his name on my own.” She groaned and hit her head against the wall behind her. “Why did you let me go home with him? You were supposed to be my voice of reason!”

“You said you were sure. You said it was cosmic intervention… I think.” He rubbed his head as phantom pains returned. “You remember more about that night than I do.”

She groaned again, this one taking a whinier tone than the previous groans. “That was the sixth drink and eighth shot talking.”

“Well your eighth shot was very convincing to my ninth shot.”

“And how could I have not used a condom? I couldn’t possibly have been that far gone that I didn’t demand protection. Could he…” her body stilled, her mind froze as a horrifying thought occurred to her, “…could he have not used one? And said he did?”

Adrien grimaced. “Or he was drunk and thought he did. Or thought you said not to. Not that you did! Just that he was really drunk and misinterpreted!” He rushed to add upon seeing her reaction to the suggestion.

“No, you used a condom,” Tikki offered quietly. “Just not the whole time.”

Marinette’s head whipped to her. “Okay, first, ew! Why do you know that! Were you watching?”

“No!” Tikki exclaimed indignantly. “But voices carry, especially when they are very loud.” She gave Marinette a pointed look.

Marinette eyed her suspiciously but continued, “Second, what does that mean?”

Tikki sighed dejectedly. “It means you did stuff before you put it on. And if you’re particularly lucky, that’s enough.”

“Oh my God,” Adrien muttered absentmindedly.

“Oh my God!” Marinette yelled, realization setting in.

“Yeah, I bet Tikki heard that a lot that night too,” Plagg cackled.

All three eyes shot to him in a glare that did nothing to diminish his laughter.

“You mean I’m pregnant because I’m Ladybug? Because I was wearing the earrings?” Marinette whisper screeched.

“Not… entirely… but, it influenced it. You’re the wielder of Creation. It’s going to increase your chances of the right things happening in the right order to create life. But you two are the ones who didn’t wear a condom for the whole act, allowing semen to be present and you two are the ones who gave each other multiple orgasms, which helped move the semen into the right position. You very much could have gotten pregnant without any miraculous intervention.”

Marinette’s mouth hung open and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “Multiple orgasms, huh?” Adrien asked waggling his eyebrows.

“Judging by the screaming, I’d say both of them were highly proficient,” Tikki nodded in confirmation.

“Oh my God,” Marinette whispered into her hands covering her face. “This is a nightmare. Not only am I pregnant, I have to hear this. I cannot get a break.”

Adrien shrugged. “It could be worse. It could have been bad.”

“It doesn’t really matter if I couldn’t remember it,” Marinette pointed out.

“Yeah, but next time you’ll remember it,” he pointed out.

“If there is a next time,” Marinette sighed.

“There will be,” Adrien reassured her. “It was cosmic intervention. It will bring you back together again.”

Marinette shook her head and rested it on his shoulder with her eyes closed. “I wish I was as optimistic as you.”

“It will all work out eventually. Until then, you have commissions to finish before the gala, including your dress. You need to look impeccable so we can network for your company.”

Marinette groaned and dropped her legs to the ground. “Can’t I just fall apart for one minute, please?”

“Nope. You need to get back to work doing something you love and can focus on. If it happens to be something that calms you as well? Well that’s just good for you and the baby. Come on,” he stood up and offered her his hand to help her up, “you start working and I’ll go out and get some pregnancy supplies for you.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I think you’re more excited about this than I am.”

“You’re going to have a baby! You have a little bug in the oven! If you don’t break it to your dad with a pun, he and I will be so disappointed,” he gave her a mock stern look before pulling her into a comforting embrace. “You’re going to be ecstatic about this, too, once the shock wears off. I know you and I know you’re going to be an amazing mom,” he whispered with a kiss to the top of her head. “And I’m going to be the fun uncle that he, she, or they gets really excited to hang out with and takes them for ice cream and he comes to whenever she has problems they can’t go to you about.” He gave her an excited smile as he thought about the future.

“Now move. The gala’s coming up in just a few weeks and you have a ton of work to finish and you’re going to be panicking about letting Tim down and you’re not going to be able to chug coffee and energy drinks anymore.” 

Marinette emitted a woeful, agonized moan that even the neighbors heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sex ed time: This is one of the main reasons condoms "fail" and yes, orgasms help move semen up into the uterus so they're in a better position to get to the egg.


	5. The Cosmic Injustice of it All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Jason go back to the club, or try to...

“I’m proud of you man. It’s about time,” Jason clapped Dick on the back as they walked down the street. “You’ve been hung up on that woman for too long. She couldn’t have been that good if you don’t even remember it. It’s time to make new memories. Screw her… I mean… screw someone else.”

Dick gave him a distracted smile. “Yeah. That’s the plan. New memories.” He stopped at a nondescript intersection and looked up and down the street. “The club was around here, wasn’t it?”

Jason paused and stared at him for a few seconds. “You’re kidding me. You’re looking for her, aren’t you? That’s what this is about.”

Dick rounded on him with an annoyed expression. “Yes, okay? Yes. That’s what this is about. I want to make sure she’s okay. I want to make sure nothing happened. I want to see why she panicked and ran away. I don’t _think_ she could have possibly figured out who I am, but if not, what caused the panic? And _yes_ I want to see her again because she was amazing. And we are here because this is the only lead _Dick Grayson_ would have on her.”

“Why don’t you use the batcomputer? She has to have left fingerprints in your apartment and surely you can hack some surveillance videos to track where she lives.” Jason suggested, keeping an eye out for the club entrance.

“Because I’m not a stalker and that is incredibly creepy. Please tell me you’ve never done something like that.” He gave Jason a wary look. He was way too quick to make the suggestion, like he’d thought about it.

“No, I haven’t. _I’ve_ never had a woman run in fear from me after sex.” He gave Dick a pointed look and a smirk. “But, yeah, now that you mention it, that would be super creepy. You know, maybe we would be able to help if you would have let any of us see her face. Instead we’re doing this. Whatever _this_ is.”

“I’m just going to hang out and see if I see her again. If I do, I’m going to see if she wants to do get to know each other. If she doesn’t, I’ll back off. But if she does, I’m going to pursue her. I’m going to ask her out and pray sober her is as interesting and as interested as drunk her.”

“Man that girl really got under your skin,” Jason whistled with a shake of his head.

“She was incredible. She was feisty and strong, smart and protective. Not to mention gorgeous. I don’t know. It felt like there was something there and then she was just gone.” He ran his hand back and forth through his hair. “I liked the way she fit.”

“Woah, either give more details or I don’t want to hear it.”

“Not what I meant.” He shoved Jason into the wall of the building they were passing. “And not going to happen. I meant we clicked,” he smiled at the memory, “and yeah, the physical was amazing too.” 

“From what you remember.”

Dick nodded in confirmation. “From what I remember.” He looked up at the door in front of them and up and down the street. “This is where it was, isn’t it?”

Jason took in the buildings around them. “Yeah, it should be. Roy, Tim, and I stopped in that restaurant after we left the club. Pretty good Korma there.”

Dick furrowed his brow and moved closer to the doorway. There was a padlock on the door that looked like it hadn’t been moved in a few weeks. “Let’s check out that Korma,” he suggested, suggestion heavy in his tone.

Jason looked at him for a few moments and nodded. “What a coincidence. I’m suddenly starving.”

“Hello, welcome to India’s Treasure. Table for two?” the host asked with an overly happy expression. 

“Yes please.” They followed the man back to a table. “And a bit of information if you don’t mind,” Dick spoke up while they walked.

The host looked at them suspiciously. “Information is dangerous in this city. What do you want to know?”

“There was a club a few doors down a few weeks ago, but now it’s padlocked. What happened?”

The server’s face went cold. “They closed. Enjoy your dinner. I recommend the Veggie Korma.”

“Not at all suspicious,” Jason commented quietly after the host had returned to his station.

They both smiled warmly when their server appeared with the menus. “Here you are boys. My name’s Kim. I’ll be your server. Just let me know when you’re ready to order,” she said with a bright smile to Jason.

As soon as she turned away Dick raised his eyebrow at Jason and motioned toward the server. Jason gave a mock long suffering sigh. “The things I do for my family.”

“Hey, Kim?” he spoke up quickly. “I know what I want.”

Kim’s cheeks turned a light pink color but she kept her voice level. “And what is that?”

“My brother and I will take two of the veggie kormas and nan bread and two beers, please.”

Kim nodded and rushed off to place the order. She returned a few minutes later with their beers.

“Last time I was in here there was a bunch of people hanging around a few doors down. It was hard to get through them to get here. But there was nobody around this time. Something change?” Jason asked, nonchalantly sipping his beer. 

“Club closed a few doors down about a few weeks ago,” she nodded.

Jason leaned toward her with a sweet smile. “Had you ever gone?”

Kim bit her lower lip and nodded shyly. “Yeah quite a few times.”

“How was it? Fun? A good club?”

“I mean… I liked it. It always had good music, good drinks, good bouncer, and packed.”

“Sounds perfect. Maybe I should try to find out if the owner has any other clubs.” Jason wet his lips and the server’s eyes dropped to them. “Maybe we could check it out.”

The server cocked her head to the side. “I don’t think that would be such a good idea.”

“No? The way you described it, my brother and I might want to check it out,” Jason suggested, backing down the flirting.

The server looked around to see who was listening. “Okay, you definitely didn’t hear this from me but from what I’ve heard, and this is just rumors and people talking, but the club was a front for one of the mob families. Not extremely surprising, really.”

“Ah, probably shouldn’t try to track them then. So they shut down because the police figured out they were a front?”

The server scoffed. “No. They shut down because the bouncer was amazing and bounced the wrong creep.”

“What do you mean by that?” Dick jumped in. He really didn’t mean to jump in on Jason’s interrogation, but he needed to know.

Kim looked back and forth between the two suddenly uncertain. “Excuse him,” Jason dismissed him, “he met a chick there the other day and was hoping to see her again. But, now you got me intrigued.” He leaned back, his arms lax, sticking his chest out slightly to accentuate his muscles. “What did the creep have to do with the club shutting down?”

The server leaned closer and lowered her voice so only they could hear her. “Okay, so, my friend used to be a bartender there, right?” Jason nodded, encouraging her to continue. “He said this creep was going around molesting women and this like little, tiny woman laid him _out_. Like this little, pixie looking thing took him _down_. The bouncer kicked his ass out and banned him from coming back. But, here’s the thing. He’s a cop. He came storming in the next night with a whole team behind him and shut them down. My friend said he destroyed things and planted evidence. Got the bouncer arrested. Shut them down. Didn’t even touch the mob part of it.”

“What the Hell!” Dick exclaimed louder than he meant to.

The server shrugged her shoulders. “Happens. Cops in Gotham. There’s only like two good ones, maybe. The rest are as bad as the criminals. Actually, they are criminals, but it would take a good cop to arrest them and since there are only two on a good day and who knows what would happen to them if they actually stood up to the others…” she trailed with another shrug. “You just have to try to keep off their radar and hope the bats are around if you ever do get on their radar.”

Jason nodded along with her advice. Things hadn’t changed much since he was a kid. You never went to the cops about anything that happened. You took care of it yourself. That was the only justice in Gotham. 

Dick looked back and forth between the two of them horrified. He knew there were issues in the police department. Of course he knew. He wasn’t stupid. There was a reason Jim Gordon couldn’t get some things done and a fair number of the cases they had sent over to the police suddenly got lost, but he hadn’t realized it was this bad. “Someone should do something about that,” he spluttered out.

Kim asked with a doubtful raised eyebrow. “You volunteering?”

“No.” Dick had a fulltime job as Nightwing and head of his own team. He didn’t have the time to add police work on top of that.

“Yeah,” Kim scoffed. “That’s what I thought. Everyone knows it’s bad but nobody is willing to do anything about it.” She looked back to the kitchen. “I’ll go get your food. Just a second.”

<><><><><>

Marinette and Adrien outside the club in the same spot Dick and Jason would stand a week later. “Are you kidding me?” She yelled at the shuttered club door. “This was the only hope I had to find him!” She let out an angry scream and kicked the door. “I hate the universe.”

Adrien stared at the door in dismay. “Yeah. That seems… justified.” He looked up and down the street, spotting an Indian restaurant. “Let’s get some food to drown your sorrows.”

Marinette looked at the restaurant sadly and threw her hands up in defeat. “I can’t even drink!” she moaned.

Adrien chuckled and threw his arm over her shoulder. “Sorry bug. But you can eat a ton of nan and pack on the carbs,” he offered instead. “Then we can get a milkshake for you to drink instead.”

Marinette nodded and let him lead her to the restaurant. The universe was mocking her. She could feel it. She was in the middle of some cosmic joke and couldn’t get out.


	6. Everything Happens in Its Own and Usually Most Inconvenient Possible Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Dick finally meet again

The gala was going better than anticipated. Despite feeling like she stuck out like weed in a field of flowers, things seemed to be going well. Marinette had talked with more people than she could remember and they all seemed to walk away happily and interested in her work except for a few pompous assholes who couldn’t keep their eyes off her growing chest. Admittedly, she was showing more cleavage than she anticipated, but she was blaming that on the baby that was enlarging her chest already. 

Luckily, she had Adrien to watch out for her and keep them from doing anything more than just look. More importantly, Tim seemed impressed with her designs for the gala and could pick out the outfits that were hers. That was two big checks for the night. The rest of her life might be going to hell, but at least this night was going smoothly.

Whereas she felt like she was an imposter in the ranks, Adrien seemed to blend into the crowd seamlessly. Laughing sensibly at the right times, sharing knowing looks that confused Marinette with the other party goers, smiling politely at the right bad jokes. He led her to the right people to get to know and whispered in her ear the right things to say to them. 

She watched Adrien flourish and felt a twinge of guilt. This was the product of his dad. She was benefitting from Gabriel’s abuse toward Adrien. She grabbed Adrien’s arm to get his attention and looked up at him with sad eyes. He gave her a soft smile and excused them politely from the conversation they were in. “It’s okay, Mari. I’m okay,” he assured her. He looked back out to the crowd.

“How about a fun one next?” he urged her. 

Marinette gave him a halfhearted smile and nodded. If he could do this then so could she. He was doing this for her. She could hold up her end. She nodded and smiled politely at people as she passed. One woman lit up at her so Marinette stopped to talk to her, letting Adrien continue on without her. After a very amusing conversation with a breath of fresh air named Selina Kyle, Marinette searched for Adrien in the crowd. Luckily, he hadn’t wandered too far away. She caught his attention and he turned to her with a wide smile.

“And this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Marinette, this is Richard Grayson.”

Marinette looked over to the new man, still trying to keep all the names of people she had met already. There were too many names. There was no way she was going to remember this new person’s name. She looked in the new man’s eyes… familiar eyes and a familiar but strained smile. Why were those eyes familiar? “Fuck…” Marinette let out before she could stop herself.

Adrien froze. Richard froze. That name wasn’t right. That definitely wasn’t the name he had given her. Did he give her a fake name? 

“Uh, hi.” Dick offered with a strained smile. “It’s nice to meet you. Dick Grayson.” He wasn’t sure what their relationship was, but if she was in a relationship with Adrien, he wasn’t going to intentionally destroy it despite the twinge in his heart. That would explain the hasty exit from his apartment though.

“He is _Bruce Wayne’s_ son,” Adrien gently reminded her, “ _Tim’s_ brother.” 

“Fuck!” Marinette groaned out louder. Tears were starting to appear in her eyes. This could not be happening. Not here. Not now. She was not prepared for this conversation. She was supposed to be networking for her job, for the partnership and her store. She did not have time for this! Why now. Why after all their searching and attempts to retrace her steps did it have to happen now?

He was Tim’s brother and Bruce Wayne’s son. One of, if not the richest man in the world and the current holder of her exclusive contract. Dick was going to hate her. He was going to think she trapped him into this. He was going to think she was a manipulative bitch who shouldn’t be allowed to raise children and take the baby away and never let her see it. She would only get to see him or her or them whenever Richard took them out in public. The baby was going to get a new mother and would call her ‘Maman’. And what if that new mom didn’t like having a stepchild? What if she didn’t love them like they deserved? What if they thought Marinette didn’t want them?

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked quietly.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Marinette exclaimed shaking her hands to release anxiety. She could no longer breathe and tears were starting to gather in the corner of her eyes.

“Mari?” Adrien looked between Marinette and Richard a few times before a realization set in. “Oh my God. He said his name was Dick. It’s him! It’s ladybug shirt guy!” He said with a smile. “We found him! I’m telling Chloe. She is going to die.”

“No!” Marinette jumped at him to grab his phone, attracting the attention of the people around them. But at this point, Marinette no longer cared. She had more important things to focus on.

“Well, I have more mingling to do and you,” he pushed Marinette toward Dick hard enough for her to stumble and Dick to reach out and steady her, “have some talking to do. Good luck. I won’t go too far. Let me know if you need me… for anything...” He looked at Marinette sincerely with his last statement before giving Dick a less friendly look. “… anything at all.”

Marinette looked up at Dick through her lashes. Her fear was radiating out of her and it made Dick want to wrap her up and hold her until she smiled. “How… how have you been?”

Marinette looked around them noticing now close everyone was and a few people who were leaning back expressly to eavesdrop. She eyed them warily and responded loudly enough for them to hear, “We haven’t caught up in a bit. Let’s go somewhere and talk where the music isn’t so loud.”

Dick followed her eyes and nodded, leading her out of the ballroom and into the closed section of the manor. He could feel the apprehension as she walked, making him nervous as well. He didn’t know what was about to happen but he could tell it was significant. He just didn’t know if it was good significant or bad significant.

“We should be good here. Nobody but family is allowed back here.” He looked around anxiously as if to confirm, but really it was just something for him to do, something to focus on besides her. “I was hoping to talk to you after… after that night but realized I didn’t get your number. I tried going back to the club to look for you, but...”

“It closed. Yeah… I tried going back to the club, too.” Dick brightened up at that. She had searched for him too. It wasn’t just him that wanted to try for something more. “I wanted to maybe just show up at your door, but I think I was still drunk when I left and…,” she scrunched up her face in uncertainty, “I saw all the weapons on the counter and when I heard you waking up in the bedroom, I just ran. I didn’t pay attention to where I was. And then I thought about the weapons and thought… maybe I shouldn’t.”

The realization hit Dick and he cursed under his breath. He was going to kill Jason. “My brother is paranoid, Jason not Tim, who you apparently know. Living in Gotham is bad enough but he… we get targeted a lot so he… those were his weapons, not mine. I swear. None of them were mine and they normally aren’t even there, I just wouldn’t let them take them to the club,” he rushed out to try to assure her. 

Her eyes searched his. He held his breath praying she found what she was looking for, or not finding it, depending on the question she was trying to answer. Whichever answer let him talk to her again, he hoped she found it. After a few moments, she must have found some answer because she gave him a weak smile and nodded slightly. Dick let out the breath he had been holding. She didn’t seem entirely convinced, but Dick would take it. He could work with it if she gave him a chance. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Now he had a chance, what was he going to do with it? “So… how have you been?”

“Pregnant,” Marinette answered quickly, instantly regretting not saying it more sensitively, easing him into the realization. She had freaked out, it stood to reason that he would as well.

Dick’s eyes widened in shock and his breath shortened. He looked down to her belly and back up to her face. A look of panic was plastered on his face. He was not ready. How did it even happen? He thought they had used precautions. And he had provided the condom and put it on so it wasn’t as though she could have sabotaged anything. Holy shit! He was going to be a dad. How was he going to balance that? How was he going to be a dad and Nightwing? Shit! He couldn’t take care of himself. How was he supposed to take care of a child? He was pretty sure they ate more than cereal.

“I’m so sorry!” Marinette rushed out seeing his whole body going into shock. “I’m so very, very sorry! I swear I don’t expect anything. I don’t… I didn’t… This wasn’t on purpose. I swear! I wasn’t trying to get pregnant.” Tears were now freely falling down her cheeks and marring her dress. Thank God she had waterproof mascara but the water stains were still making their mark.

“How…”

She chuckled mirthlessly. “Did you know semen leaks out before the… end? Cuz’ I didn’t.” She wiped tears away as she spoke. “Or rather I did, I just didn’t think it was enough to do anything. But, if you’re truly _lucky_ , that’s enough. So if you wait to put a condom on until just before… the end, you can still get pregnant.” 

“And you… you’re sure…” He didn’t know how to ask the question tactfully.

She drew a sharp breath and looked down wiping away a few more tears. “Yeah. I… I broke up with my boyfriend a little under a year ago. There… um… there hasn’t been anyone else since then.” 

He nodded dumbly. That was pretty conclusive. Unless there was a sudden case of immaculate conception going on, that was his baby. “Okay.”

She turned her eyes to him, her expression somber. “I didn’t… I don’t expect you to do anything, not participation, not child support, nothing. I just… I thought you deserved to know even if you don’t want to be involved and I understand if this is too much for you.”

Dick looked up at her in surprise. She was giving him an out. She wasn’t expecting him to be a dad and help take care of them. But for some reason, that realization only made his heart clench tighter. Did he want an out? Did he want to miss out on his child’s upbringing? All of their firsts? Their first step. Their first summersault. Their first word. Their first laugh. Their first breath. 

He didn’t. He didn’t want to miss out on those things. He pulled himself out of his spiral to see Marinette starting to turn away to leave. He reached out and grabbed her hand before she could get too far away and pulled her into his chest, hugging her tightly. “I want to be involved. I want to be there. I want to help.” She froze for a few seconds before hugging him back just as strongly. Her crying increased in his arms and he held her through it. He wouldn’t let her go through any part of this alone, not anymore.

“I don’t know what you need, but I want to help provide it for you and… and our baby,” he said gently, pulling away just enough to wipe away her tears. 

She nodded at him, turning her eyes up to match his. Dick felt his chest tighten. Her eyes were glassy with tears but still gorgeous and captivating. He moved the hand wiping the tears to cup her face. His thumb gently stroked her cheek. He leaned down toward her but her hand clasped over her lips before his lips could reach them, blocking his way. Her eyes bugged out and she ran to the trash can before throwing up.

“Oh my god,” she groaned, collapsed on the floor next to the trash can. “And morning sickness has officially begun. And it’s early. Just so much _luck_.” She looked up at him with an apologetic smile. “Sorry you had to see that.”

Dick chuckled lightly, “Well, I did want to be there for all the firsts. Come on,” he gently grabbed her hands to help her up, “let’s get you some water to rinse out your mouth and cleaned up a bit. If you want to stay, I’d love to escort you around. If you’d like to go home and rest, I’d love to take you home. If you want to go somewhere and talk, I’d love to take you wherever you want. But either way, can I get your phone number… and last name? I want to help figure things out with you. Maybe… if you’re interested… maybe go on a first date? If you want to try for a relationship…. I mean… I understand if you don’t want to risk…” 

His stuttering cut off when she started giggling. He looked up to match her eyes, a look of hope finally finding their way back into them. “I would really like that, too. And it’s Dupain-Cheng. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It’s nice to officially meet you, Dick Grayson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked about the timing so:
> 
> As of Chapter 6, she is 5 weeks along, which is early for morning sickness to start but happens sometimes...
> 
> Pregnancy is calculated by last period, not by conception so that means it’s been 3 weeks since Marinette and Dick slept together and one week since she found out she was pregnant. So she got like no time to process it herself before telling him. But less time freaking out about not knowing the father, so... bonus!
> 
> I’ll do a note on where each member of the Bat family stands on believing that Dick is the father in a few chapters.


	7. Polished, Public Appropriate First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Dick go on their first date.

“She will like whatever you do with her. She’s pretty easy going.” Tim advised plopping down on the couch next to an upside Stephanie, poking her in her exposed side and receiving a warning kick to the head as a result.

Dick gave Tim a cynical look and ran his hands through his hair. He groaned and ran to the mirror to fix his now messed up hair. 

“No cologne tonight?” Stephanie asked sniffing the air.

“No. She asked if I would hold off on it for a few weeks until her stomach settles a bit more.” He turned to look at Tim. “And I want it to be special. I want _her_ to feel special.” His anxiety apparent in his every fidget, hesitation, and tap of his foot.

“What, you don’t think making her feel constant nausea is special?” Stephanie asked with a smirk.

Dick threw his comb at her which she caught easily. “No, I think I have to make up for making her feel like that. She’s been miserable constantly. I want her to feel good.”

“You think stuffy and pretentious is the way to go if she’s feeling miserable?” Stephanie asked curiously, trying to cock her head closer to right side up in order to see him better.

“It’ll be something nice for her. This is going to work. She’s going to love it,” he said more to reassure himself than convince the others. “She’ll get to dress up. Get really nice food. Everything she needs to feel better.”

“She told you she’s been miserable?” Damian asked suspiciously. “Seems manipulative. If she’s even really feeling sick at all.” He batted away the pillow Stephanie threw at him without bothering to look up from his homework.

“She isn’t like that. And she’s pregnant you tiny gremlin, with your niece or nephew, if you remember.” Tim hissed. “And she doesn’t need to latch onto anyone. Give her ten years and she will be one of the leading names in fashion in the world. Why do you think I partnered with her in the first place? She doesn’t need Dick for money.”

“Enough. I’m not discussing this tonight,” Dick thundered, scowling at Damian. “She hasn’t said anything, but I can hear it in her voice whenever we talk and see it in her eyes whenever I see her. She keeps saying she’s fine and plasters on this fake smile, like she doesn’t want me to worry.”

Damian scoffed, but refrained from continuing. Tim spoke up instead. “She didn’t fake the vomit before our meeting earlier today… or after.”

Dick’s head whipped over to him. “She threw up in your office today? Twice?”

“In the bathroom, but yeah.” Tim nodded in confirmation. “I don’t think she expected Tam to see her or tell me about it. She threw up then went into our meeting like nothing was wrong. As soon as the meeting was over and I’d returned to the office she rushed to the bathroom and Tam said was just heaving that time.”

Steph nodded. “Probably didn’t have anything in her stomach to throw up anymore. Happens a lot. I don’t know if it makes it better or worse. They both really sucked. It all really sucked actually. The idea of eating made you unbelievably sick, but not eating made it worse.” She righted herself on the couch, throwing her legs over Tim’s lap and leaning against the arm rest. “And don’t even get me started on those bitches who don’t get any morning sickness.”

Dick hummed in consideration. His brow furrowed deeper the more he thought about it. He really didn’t want her hiding things from him, which admittedly was rather hypocritical of him, but if she was suffering, he wanted to know. “If it’s as bad as Tim says, maybe you should let her decide where you go instead. There’s probably food she can’t eat or makes her feel sicker than others and there may be something that her body is craving. And it may change from moment to moment. It did for me.”

Dick gave her a small, understanding smile. “Thanks, Steph. I’ll think about it. Now, wish me luck.” He shot them a nervous smile and left to pick up Marinette for their first date.

<><><><><>

“Are you sure you’re okay with this,” Marinette asked again.

Dick laughed and shook his head. “I told you, it’s fine. I like Batburger. This is great.” 

“But you put so much effort into something nicer. And you definitely dressed for something more elegant,” she moaned.

He pulled her into a side hug as he guided her to a place to sit in the park. “I hate pretentious. I’d rather just hang around and have fun… I mean, unless you like fancy restaurants, then…”

Marinette cut him off with a laugh. “No. No, I don’t. I mean every once in a while is fun and I love the outfits at big events obviously, but I’d rather just do something where we can relax and have fun. Act like ourselves, not a polished, public appropriate version of ourselves.”

Dick smiled and motioned to a bench with a nice view of the park. She nodded and sat sideways on the bench so she could talk to him better. “You mean polished, public appropriate like cursing repeatedly at the host’s son at the biggest social event of the year?” He smirked at her.

Marinette groaned and hid her head in her hands. “Don’t remind me. I can’t believe I did that.”

Dick laughed and wrapped his arms around her to pull her into a comforting hug. “It’s fine. Very justified… considering.” Marinette made a noncommittal grunt and leaned into his chest, lowering her hands slightly. “But I agree,” he started slowly, “occasionally is nice, but relaxed is better. And galas especially are draining. They’re so boring and annoying. Maybe next time… we can go together?” he finished quietly. His heart was pounding in his chest as he asked. Was he being too forward? Was it too forward to ask the mother of your child to attend a family event? That wasn’t too forward, right? He didn’t want to scare her off on their first date. 

Marinette looked up at him in surprise. “You…” She smiled at him for a few moments. She turned back to her food and pulled out her batburger. She looked back at him with a smirk. “Pretty confident this date’s going to go well, huh?” 

Dick blinked a few times. He chuckled and gave her a charming smile, pulling his burger out as well. “I’m hopeful.” 

Marinette looked at the burger before she took a bite and shook her head. “I can’t believe you have a restaurant themed after your heroes.”

“Vigilantes,” he corrected her.

“Vigilantes, right. Sorry. I’m not used to that. Paris and New York had heroes not vigilantes.” She moaned happily as she took a bite of her burger. “Oh my God. I don’t know if it’s just the pregnancy, but this is the best thing ever.”

Dick laughed and took a bite of his food. “That’s definitely the pregnancy.”

She hummed again as she rapidly ate her first small burger. “I don’t care. This is exactly what I needed.”

Dick watched her for a few moments before taking another bite himself. “So, how was your day today? I heard you had a meeting with Tim,” he asked in as casual tone as he could manage.

Marinette’s eyes lit up. She rapidly chewed the bite that was in her mouth before launching into a description. “It was great! We finalized the designs today, well as much as we can considering I’m just now seeing the fabrics they designed, which means I can start working on making the designs. Tim had some really great suggestions and now we’re starting to plan for the show for fashion week. Thankfully, a team at WE is handling all that so I can focus on the designs. I have more than enough time for the show, but I’ll need to have options in my store for people to buy once the show is over and that will take time.”

She took another quick bite of her second child sized burger and started bouncing in her seat. “I’m so excited to get my hands on the textiles. I’d only been briefed on what they were designed to do and felt samples before today. Next week I’ll get to actually work with them. Oh, and Tim introduced me to the man who did most of the designing for the textiles. That was amazing. I really liked speaking with him. I’m really looking forward to working with him more. He was so knowledgeable and had great suggestions and considered my suggestions. It was really enlightening for both of us, I think. He might go back and adjust his designs based on my suggestions. It felt like a really good understanding and respect. I was so nervous about signing the contract considering I am so new and I’ve never done… well anything, and WE is so huge. But I think this is going to be really great for both of us.” 

Dick felt his chest tighten slightly. Not that he was jealous. And there was no reason to be. This was a work colleague. It was important that she had a good relationship with her colleagues in order to succeed and he wanted her time at WE to be enjoyable. But that did nothing to lessen the tightening in his chest. “So, who was the designer?” Was that nonchalant? That was totally nonchalant, right? He was cool. It was fine. The woman he liked and was carrying his baby was having enlightening, amazing conversations with another man. That was fine. Good even. That was ideal for her. He absolutely did _not_ want to punch the enlightened, amazing man in his amazing, enlightened jaw.

“Lucius Fox. He’s the sweetest man and so smart. I don’t know how he thinks of all the things he does but it’s amazing to watch.”

Dick let out the breath he had been holding and gave her a beaming smile. “Yeah, Lucius is amazing. We all love him. He’s a close friend of the family.”

“I can see why.” She nodded taking another bite.

“Anything else happen?” he prompted casually.

She considered his question. “That’s pretty much everything. I can go into more detail on things if you want me to, but yeah, pretty much. How was your day? You never told me what you do.”

“Oh, I… do security with Bruce… in my own division.” He gave her a disarming smile. It was his standard lie, but for some reason it felt wrong to use it.

“You work at WE, too?” Her eyes lit up with excitement. “Maybe I’ll bump into you next time! Or maybe we can get lunch together.”

“We can try. My hours are odd.” He winced internally. The lie was going to be harder to maintain if she was going to be there frequently. He looked up to continue deferring the possibility but got caught in her eyes. They were so bright and hopeful. He couldn’t let that fade away. He was sure she would understand, but he didn’t want her to have to. He could come into the building more often, make the lie more realistic. He smiled back at her. “But I can make sure I’m there for that. I can pick you up and take you to WE. I can walk you to Tim’s office and give you a kiss for good luck before you start your day.”

“That sounds like an incredibly lucky start to my day.” She snuggled closer to him and gazed up in his eyes.

“It will definitely make my day better. Anytime I see you, it makes my day better, happier,” he said earnestly, running his fingers up her arm.

She beamed at him. “Yeah?”

He looked lovingly in her eyes as he traced along her cheeks and jaw, resting his hand gently around her throat. “Yeah,” he whispered back.

She bit her lip and looked down, a blush settling on her cheeks. She suddenly swallowed heavily and threaded her fingers through his. She moved their hands to her lap with a reassuring squeeze. She breathed out slowly a few times before finally looking back up with a strained smile. Dick furrowed his brow. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She diverted her eyes and took a small bite of her burger. 

He didn’t need to be a trained detective to read the signs she was giving out, the sudden shift from affectionate to slightly closed off. From leaning into his touch to leaning away from him. Her soft, warm smile turned tight and strained. Her breathing had turned labored. Her relaxed posture was rigid. He would think he had done something and she was uncomfortable but she was still squeezing his hand. “Marinette…” he urged her softly.

“Sorry,” she grumbled, looking down with a guilty look on her face.

“Morning sickness?” She nodded, still not looking him in the eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s not going to last forever, just a few more weeks, and… I like you touching me. It’s just the pressure on my neck triggered a reflex. In a few weeks it’ll be fine and I don’t want you to think you should stop,” she explained, the blush on her cheeks now from embarrassment.

Dick smiled roguishly at her. “You like me touching you, huh?” Marinette rolled her eyes but her deep blush betrayed her pleasure at his comment. Dick brushed the bangs out of her eyes, and let his fingers linger in her hair, making sure not to put too much pressure on her. “Marinette, it’s okay to tell me the truth. I want to know. It isn’t a burden you’re laying on me by being honest. You aren’t just complaining. You’re telling me the truth. You’re letting me be part of this. We’re in this together, aren’t we?”

“Yes, of course,” she answered automatically.

“Then I want the truth. You’re not going to scare me off. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to be disappointed in you or the baby. I’m not going to get frustrated and pull away. I’m here for the whole messy, miserable, chaotic, amazing, miraculous process. I want to support you, both of you. So if you’re so sick you’re throwing up before and after meetings,” he gave her a pointed look. “I want to help. I can pick you up or bring you food or interrupt the meeting so it doesn’t go long.”

Marinette looked down guiltily and started fidgeting with her fingers. “Tim knew about that, huh?”

“Tim knows everything that goes on at WE,” he confirmed.

Marinette let out a long, deep sigh. “I didn’t want him to know.”

“Why not?”

“I… I can still do my job,” she insisted. “I don’t want special treatment because I’m carrying his niece or nephew. I want to get better and make sure this project is successful, not get coddled.”

Dick opened him mouth then shut it again. “Tim would go soft on you. So would Lucius,” Dick agreed. “But only if they thought you were doing your best. If they thought you were shirking or not putting your best effort in, they would let you know. But they aren’t going to push you into the hospital. They wouldn’t do that even if you weren’t pregnant. Okay?”

Marinette gave him an unconvinced smile but nodded. “Okay,” she agreed.

“Alright. So, how are you feeling?”

She shrugged. “Right now, pretty close to okay.”

“So… not good?”

“There is no good. There’s just less terrible. And this is just the first week of it. I’m scared I’m going to have to start taking medicine for it and I’d really prefer not to do that. They say it’s safe but… I don’t want to take anything unless I absolutely have to. Hey, do you think I can get another burger?” Dick smiled and started to pull out his second burger for her before Marinette put her hand on his arm to stop him. “Actually, ignore that.”

He shook his head at her again. “Marinette, you can have my burger if you want another one.”

She looked at him self-consciously. “I know. Thank you for that, but if I eat too much it’ll make me feel sick too. It’s better to maybe come back another time or get something small on the way home.”

Dick nodded. “Okay, if you’re sure.” She nodded and reached into her bag, pulling out the last item in it. She giggled and held it up for Dick to see. “Hey, baby’s first toy!” He exclaimed excitedly.

She looked at him with soft eyes and nodded. “Baby’s first toy,” she repeated dreamily. 

Dick reached out to rub her belly but stopped just short of touching her. “Is it… is it okay for me to…” he nodded toward his hand and her belly.

Marinette pointedly eyed his arm that were already wound around her waist, but his gaze was so earnest, her teasing comment died on her lips. “Yeah, yeah it’s okay,” she whispered softly instead.

He ran his hand over her belly reverently. This was his first time running his hand over the baby. Her belly was still flat, no external indication there was more developing beneath the surface. He could feel her lithe muscles through her shirt. But underneath the muscles was their baby. _Their_ baby. Their baby was growing and developing. And then one day in no time at all the baby would be there, in his arms, looking at him, trusting him, needing him to protect it. And he would do anything he had to in order to make sure his child was safe.

He looked back up at Marinette with a warm smile. He tightened his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She cupped his cheek and stretched up to kiss him.

She hummed contentedly as she pulled away and laid her head on his shoulder. He laid his head on hers and squeezed her again. Marinette picked up the figurine to get a better look at it. “It’s Nightwing!” She held up the small black and blue figurine for Dick to see.

Dick shook his head out of his stupor and sent her a sly smile. “Yeah, I remember you saying he’s your favorite.”

“Oh my God. I don’t even remember talking about him. How embarrassing was I?”

“How embarrassing do you get?”

She stuck her tongue out at him and shoved a few fries in her mouth. “Sorry can’t,” she motioned to her full mouth, “eating.”

Dick laughed and stole a fry from her. Marinette gasped in mock outrage. “You would steal a pregnant woman’s fries? I think I need to call Nightwing to take you away.” She winked at him.

“You’re right that was ungentlemanly of me. Here take my fries in reparation.” He pushed his fries over to her.

“I was kidding. I’m not going to steal half your dinner.”

“It just means you have more for me to steal.” He smirked at her as he reached over her and past his fries to steal a few more of her fries.

She giggled and took one of his fries. “Who’s your favorite?”

“Mine? Oh, um…” he had to think about that. “Wonder Girl, I guess.”

“Oh I didn’t know we could include heroes. That changes my answer. Why is she your favorite?” She turned back to her fries missing the pout that settled on Dick’s face.

“She’s got really good moves in battle. She uses just enough force, but not too much. Like she is more concerned about hurting anyone unnecessarily. But she’s really protective of her team and goes out of her way to help anyone who needs it. Or maybe I just have a thing for black haired, blue eyed, kickass women.” He smirked at her. He stared at her for a few moments and he knew he shouldn’t. He _knew_ he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t stop himself. “But let’s go back. Who’s your favorite if you’re including heroes?”

“Chat Noir.”

“Wow no hesitation there at all. That… that hurts. I feel betrayed. And why is he your favorite?”

“That I’m choosing a Parisian hero instead of a Gothamite?” She raised an eyebrow. Dick mentally cursed himself. She didn’t know he was Nightwing. Of course she wouldn’t get the reference. Marinette missed his grimace as she reached back to grab more fries to eat as she talked. “He’s a really good guy. Really sweet and kind. I guess kind of like Wonder Girl. He went out of his way to help everyone he came across, though I suppose all the Paris heroes did that. He had amazing control over his powers and was so compassionate. Always thinking of others before himself. He saved me a few times. Used to stop by my balcony to talk sometimes… eat some free pastries. He was a friend. We kind of grew up together… I mean… as much as a hero can with a civilian.”

She gave him what she hoped was a convincing smile. It wasn’t. Dick made a mental note to do some research on Chat Noir and see how close he was to Marinette. He cringed again. That sounded pretty creepy. He couldn’t do that. “I haven’t even met Nightwing,” Marinette continued oblivious to Dick’s inner turmoil, “so Chat wins by default.” She looked at the figurine again and cocked her head to the side. “I need to make some Miraculous team dolls for the baby.”

“Should I be jealous?” Dick raised his brow playfully.

“Over me or the Parisian hero dolls or the pastries?” Her smile was coy but her eyes were sultry.

“How good were the pastries?” He leaned closer to her.

“Very.” She leaned in closer. “My parents make amazing pastries. So do I.”

“Maybe you can show me sometime.”

She nodded “I’d like to. I just need to know what you like.”

He traced her jaw with his finger. “I like you.”

She groaned and rolled her eyes, but moved closer to him with rosy cheeks. “You are so cheesy.”

He gave her a cheeky grin. “I haven’t even started yet. I like your eyes.” He slowly kissed both of her eyes. “I like your nose.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I like your cheeks.” He kissed both cheeks and brushed his thumbs over her cheeks after he kissed them. “I like your ears.” He gently grazed his teeth over her ear’s shell. His felt a warming in his chest when her breath hitched. “I like your jaw.” He laid small kisses along her jaw to the other side of her face. “I like this spot right here a lot.” She sighed happily as he ghosted nose over a spot below her ear and kissed it. “I like you.” He pulled her in for a passionate kiss. She whimpered as his tongue slipped between her lips to meet hers. She trailed her hands across his shoulders and up his neck slowly until she reached his hair. She pulled gently to pull him closer. His arms tightened around her waist, pulling her into his lap.

After a few moments she pulled away breathing hard and rested her head on his shoulder, focusing on the ground. Dick waited for his breath to level back out and leaned close to her ear. “And chocolate. I like chocolate.”

She nodded slightly, still not looking at him and breathing deeply. His brow furrowed in concern. He gently rubbed her back. “Marinette?” She hummed quietly and held up a finger to let him know to wait. He gave her a nervous smile. “That bad, huh?”

She chuckled lightly and took another deep breath before looking back up at him. “Maybe we should hold off on tongues for a few weeks too.”

“Ah,” he nodded in understanding and cringed. “Gag reflex.”

Marinette hummed and settled back against his shoulder again. “And everything triggers it right now. Breathing triggers it. Thinking triggers it. Ugh. I can’t wait for this part to be over.”

Dick wrapped his arms tighter around her, but made sure to leave them light enough not to put too much pressure on her stomach. “Sorry you have to go through this. I promise to work on making my kissing less gag inducing.”

She giggled into his shoulder, enjoying the feeling of his chest shaking with laughter as well. She pulled away just enough to look him in the eyes and rested her arms around his shoulders. “Chocolate. I can make that happen.”

Dick frowned at her. “You just almost threw up again. Maybe don’t push yourself. I’m more worried about you than getting some pastries,” his voice was suddenly tender.

Marinette smiled up at him and ran her fingers along his cheek, settling her hand on his neck. “I think it’s funny that you think I’m going to wait to start baking things for you or designing things for you. I’ve already started making plans and coming up with ideas.”

“I’m not going to convince you to take it easy am I?” She gave a resolute shake of her head. Dick shook his head and gave a defeated sigh. “Then, I’m sure I’ll love whatever you come up with.” He leaned down to give her a chaste kiss.


	8. Walking My Baby Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick gets to experience a Marinette fabric shopping trip and Marinette gets to learn a little bit more about Dick.

“Are you sure you should be lifting that?” Dick asked anxiously. “Maybe I should…” He reached out and grabbed the bolts of fabric out of Marinette’s hands. Marinette squeaked in surprise as the weight of the fabric was suddenly lifted, nearly falling backward from the shift in weight. Dick groaned under the unexpected weight, not expecting fabric to weigh so much.

“What are you doing?” She asked amused.

“You’re pregnant. You shouldn’t be carrying this much weight,” Dick insisted. “How _were_ you carrying this much weight? I swear this weighs more than you do.”

Marinette chuckled. “This? This is nothing. I grew up in a bakery and helped stock the flour. Do you know how much one of those bags weighs?” She looked away with an indulgent smile to look through more fabric.

Dick cocked his head to the side to think about her question. How much did industrial sized bags of flour weigh? He honestly had no idea. But the idea of Marinette, little tiny, pixie-sized Marinette carrying heavy loads didn’t seem possible. “No. How much?”

Marinette blinked a few times not expecting the response to her rhetorical question. She wrinkled her nose as she thought about it. Dick smiled at her expression, wishing his hands were free to pull her into a tight hug and snuggle. “Um... I don't know in American measurements. But a lot. Like… 1000 hooves.”

Dick blinked at her a few times this time. He looked at her uncertainly. Was that a French term? Was it a mistranslation? That couldn’t have been what she meant to say. It had to be a baking term. “Hooves?”

“I don't know. I made up a unit, just like Americans do. So, 1000 hooves.” She nodded in confirmation.

Dick leaned his head back to fully laugh, eyes crinkling, chest rocking. Marinette took a moment from her search to appreciate how gorgeous he was when he laughed. “Wow. That much huh?” She nodded solemnly. “I apologize for doubting you. Now quit foal-ing around. What do you think of these fabrics? Yay or neigh?”

Marinette stared at him open mouthed for a few seconds. “No. Nope. Nuh uh. I already have to deal with Papa and Adrien. You are not allowed to make puns too.” 

“So you’re saying I need to reign it in or you’ll bolt?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. She rolled her eyes at him but couldn’t stop herself from giggling and he laughed again. He stared at her for a few more seconds before sighing. “I wish I wasn’t carrying these so I could kiss you.”

Marinette looked back in surprise until a sultry smile overtook her lips. “You could always set them down on the cutting table over there, you know.”

Dick followed where she was pointing and grinned back. He quickly made his way to the table to drop off the bolts and rushed back to her side, picking her up as he rushed to her, then backed up between two overstuffed aisles. Marinette let out a surprised giggle that turned into a full belly laugh at his excitement. Dick’s watched her dreamily as she laughed. “I hope our baby laughs like you.”

Marinette quieted immediately and looked at him in awe for a few moments. She smiled lovingly and traced the smile on his lips. “I hope the baby has your smile,” she looked up to peer in his eyes, “and your eyes. You have the most beautiful eyes and the most captivating smile. Your smile makes it hard to remember my name sometimes.”

Dick gazed at her, studying her features and thinking again how lucky he was to have her. How amazing she was, kind, thoughtful, brilliant, creative, brave… he could list attributes all day. “I like your eyes and smile better. I guess we’ll have to have a second so they can have yours. And that one can have my laugh.”

Marinette gaped at him, her face turned deep red. “Um… how about we get this one out before we plan the next one.” 

Dick’s face fell. He’d pushed too far. He’d gotten carried away again. He was going to scare her at this rate. He stopped when he felt Marinette’s kiss on his lips. He melted into the kiss and moved to deepen it. She pulled away after a few moments. “I like that combination though. And once I don’t feel like throwing up constantly, maybe we can think about starting to practice for the next one.”

Dick’s face lit up and he nodded excitedly, but quickly became concerned. “How are you feeling now? Need to sit down? Need water or food?”

Marinette giggled and pecked his lips quickly. “I’m okay for now, but I anticipate needing something in my stomach in like… twenty minutes.”

Dick furrowed his brow. “We should probably get going then. It’ll take that long to find someplace and order.”

Marinette looked around anxiously. “Good point, but I’m not done. It’s… I need more time. I don’t want to have to come back. I’m actually feeling not terrible for a few moments today. I can push it a bit.”

Dick shook his head and leaned his forehead on hers. “The baby doesn’t like being pushed. It’s quite insistent. I’ll grab something quick and not messy from the store next door. That should give you a bit more time, right?”

Marinette looked up at him relieved. “Yes, thank you. A snack should help.”

“I mean, I’m already right here,” he gave her a sly grin. She cocked her head to the side in confusion. “I’m a snack and I’m right here for you.”

“Oh my God,” her cheeks flushed and she buried her head in his chest. She shook her head and gave him a playfully dirty look as he folded over in laughter. “Believe me, I agree. You are. But, how about one the baby can appreciate, not just me?”

He smiled and kissed her temple. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay. It should just be a few more minutes. Like… thirty minutes?” She offered apologetically.

It was not. It was two hours and several snacks later by the time she had finally compared, sketched, tested, and finally selected the fabrics and taken them to get cut. But that wasn’t the end of it like Dick expected. That just led to the next phase in shopping, the accessories. She scrounged through all of the buttons, zippers, clasps, inserts, thread, and ribbon. 

Dick had never known there was this much thought in an outfit. And this was supposedly just a quick trip. He couldn’t imagine a full trip. He would have to make sure to be busy when that happened… unless she wanted his company or asked, in which case he’d say yes. He sighed at himself. He was whipped. He looked over at Marinette’s shining face and couldn’t bring himself to care that he was. He would happily be whipped for her as long as he got to see that smile and be a cause for it. No matter what she said, he hoped their baby had her smile. All of them.

“Hey, there’s a good little diner around here. Want to get lunch there?” He asked when she was finally done and had arranged for them to drop it off later.

Marinette nodded happily. “Yes. I think the little one wants food now. No more snacks.” She absentmindedly rubbed her flat stomach. The motion made Dick smile. She was already so protective of the baby, which he could understand, he was too, of the baby and her. He pulled her closer into his side and leaned down to kiss her cheek. She looked back up at him with a brilliant smile and oh yeah, he was gone.

As soon as they walked into the diner, there was a loud, enthusiastic greeting for Dick from an older woman and a smile from the man in the kitchen who had peeked around to see him. “Dickie! It’s been too long. How are you?” She brought him in for a hug. Before he could answer she looked over at Marinette with a kind smile. “And who is this? Don’t tell me someone has finally caught you.”

Marinette smiled back at her and waved. “Hi. I’m Marinette, madame.”

The woman moved quickly to pull Marinette in for a hug as well. “Now, none of that. I’m Kora. Any friend of Dickie’s is family here.”

Marinette giggled and looked up at Dick with an impressed gaze. “Dickie is that good, huh?”

“Best teacher my grandson ever had. Only one to get him interested in something constructive. But, come, come. You didn’t come here to chat.” She showed them to a table. “Here are a few menus. Let me know when you’re ready to order.”

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind catching up for a second. How is Eddie? How about Rachel?” Dick spoke up before she could get far away.

“Oh, you know Eddie. He’s trying to stay out of trouble, but not too hard. It doesn’t help that the police keep an eye on him constantly. Makes him jumpy. Makes all of us jumpy. Rachel is doing great. Eddie’s making sure she stays safe. More responsibility than a young kid should take on, but what else can you do? She loves school. Taken a liking to clothing if you can believe it.” Marinette perked up instantly. “Decided she’s going to start designing them at fourteen. Saves money I suppose.”

“Would she like to see someone do it? Design I mean?” Kora looked at her questioningly. “I’m a designer. I actually moved here because I’m working on designs with Wayne Enterprises. I could take her with me to a meeting, if they are okay with it. There’s some top secret things going on, so they might not want anyone else there, but if they’re okay with it, I can show her the process.”

Kora looked over to Dick looking for his input, but Dick was too engrossed looking at Marinette in awe to see Kora’s inquiry. Kora laughed at him. That was endorsement enough for her. “Yeah, I think she’d like that. I’ll give you my number. We can arrange something.”

Marinette smiled excitedly and bounced in her seat. “That sounds great!” She looked back over to Dick as he took her hand.

“We better order before you start feeling sick. Know what you want?” When she nodded, they both placed their orders. 

“I was fourteen when I started entering design contests,” Marinette said excitedly. “Hey, do you think Tim would be interested in sponsoring a design contest for kids? I think kids like Rachel and me at that age, would really love it.”

Dick smiled proudly at her. “I really think he would. And I think Jason would probably be willing to help out too.”

Marinette nodded decidedly. “I’ll talk to Tim about it at our meeting on Monday, the contest and Rachel.” She looked to the side for a moment and returned her gaze to him with a sly look. “So… you teach gymnastics to kids?”

Dick looked down shyly. “When I can. I haven’t in about a year because of other obligations, but… I miss it. I really liked doing it.”

“I would pay to see that. I bet it’s adorable.”

He smiled at the memory of the kids. “Yeah they were.”

“Them too.” She smirked and took a drink of her water, enjoying the sight of Dick blushing. Her expression slowly morphed to more dreamy. “Maybe you can teach our baby.”

Dick perked up at the idea. “I can’t wait. I started when I was in diapers. I’d like to pass that on to my kids. Oh, speaking of that, I was wondering if you might be interested in doing some pregnancy yoga classes or we can YouTube it and do it at home.”

“We?”

He shrugged. “I thought it might be something we could do together.”

“Yeah. I think that might be fun.” She squeezed his hand and blushed when he pulled her hand up to his lips to kiss the inside of her wrist.

They pulled apart when Kora came back with their food. She gave them a knowing look as she set the food down for them. “Young love. You two are adorable.”

Marinette blushed but Dick grinned. “Hey, Kora?” Dick spoke up before she could turn to leave. “What do you mean the cops are keeping an eye on Eddie?”

Kora sighed out. “It’s like they’re waiting for him to mess up. They’re constantly watching him. We try to make sure he’s never alone and there’s always surveillance cameras somewhere but it’s just about impossible. Honestly, I almost trust the gangs more. At least they’ll try to keep him safe.”

Dick shook his head. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

Kora shrugged. “No accountability and a gun. Who’s going to stop them?” With that, she walked away to let them eat, leaving Dick to consider her words.

<><><><><>

“So you’ve been doing gymnastics since you were in diapers?” Marinette prompted Dick as they walked hand in hand through a park on their way back to her apartment.

Yep,” Dick confirmed doing an aerial front flip without breaking his stride.

Marinette pulled him to a stop so she could gape at him. “Oh yeah, by all means, pretend _that’s_ completely normal.”

“What?” Dick asked innocently.

“Don’t give me that, show off.”

“What that? Oh! _That_. That was nothing. You should see what I could do if I was trying.” Dick shrugged casually, but the smug grin on his lips gave him away.

“Oh yeah, I could do that too, if the idea of being upside down didn’t make me want to throw up. But just wait, in 10 months or so, I’ll show you a cartwheel that will knock your socks off,” she mock threatened him.

He grinned, a sincere, warm look in his eyes. “I can’t wait to see it.” He did a side flip into a walk out without losing his breath. “I’m going to have our baby out doing you by the time he or she is one.”

Marinette playfully narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay Mister gymnastics is in my blood. Let’s see what you can do when you try.”

Dick grinned and leaned down for a quick kiss before moving a bit away to start. “Don’t blink, you’ll miss some amazing moves,” he winked at her before launching into a completely unprepared gymnastic routine. He did flip after flip, moving through the air with an ease she didn’t even think she had even as Ladybug. He jumped on the back of a bench with a single fluid movement, using it to launch into a double summersault flip. It went on for a few minutes at dizzying speed before his finale, using a water fountain to give him enough height for a triple flip. Only he didn’t quite land it right. He landed in an awkward, painful looking roll until he was laid flat out on his stomach.

Marinette stopped breathing as she waited for him to move. After a few seconds he still hadn’t moved. Her heart faltered. “Dick?” her voice was weak and uncertain. “Dick? Are you… are you okay?” the anxiety was becoming more apparent with every word. “Dick!” she ran to him, cursing herself for encouraging him and pushing him. “Dick!” Her hands were trembling as she turned him over to face her.

He looked up at her with a radiant smile. “I guess this means I fell hard for you.” 

She stared at him for a few seconds while he curled up from laughing so hard. Tears started falling down Marinette’s cheeks while Dick continued to laugh. He immediately froze when he heard her let out a sob. He looked up at Marinette, but she wasn’t kneeling above him anymore. She had backed up a few feet and was sobbing into her knees. “Marinette?” He reached out for her tentatively, her whole body was shaking. “Marinette? Are you okay?” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t funny. I’m sorry,” he whispered over and over again in her ear, breaking it up with the occasional kiss to her temple.

After a few minutes her cries started to quiet. Dick brushed her bangs out of her eyes and wiped away her tears. “I’m sorry, Marinette. I wasn’t expecting you to take it so seriously.”

Marinette’s eyes flashed from distressed to anger in the span of a second. She backed away and shoved him in the shoulder. She wanted to punch him instead but she wasn’t at a good angle to punch his perfect jaw and even as upset as she was, she knew that wasn’t okay. “Seriously? I wasn’t supposed to take it seriously?” Dick stared at her in confusion… and pain. That seriously hurt. “I thought I pushed the father of my baby into killing himself. I thought you got hurt or broke your neck because of me. I thought you were hurt and I caused it,” she repeated again, tears starting to form again.

Dick’s expression softened and turned to guilt. He was an idiot. She was pregnant. Her hormones were going crazy. Not that he was stupid enough to mention that in his apology. He watched her cry over a commercial the other day, not even a particularly sad one. She was not in the frame of mind to accept jokes like this. “I’m sorry,” he said again as he rubbed her arms and pulled her back into his chest. “That was thoughtless and mean. I’m sorry.”

After a few minutes she pulled away just enough to look up at him through glassy eyes. “No, I’m sorry. I absolutely should not have shoved you. Normally I would have just rolled my eyes and pushed you back down, but these damn hormones.”

Dick nodded. Again, not something he wasn’t going to agree with verbally though. “Maybe I’ll do it again later.”

Marinette scoffed but pushed further into his embrace. “Nope that one is done. You’re going to have to come up with a new one. I’m sure you can do something with flipping or flopping or making your heart do cartwheels.”

Dick grinned and hugged her closer. “You’re taking all the best ones.”

Marinette smiled back and wound her arms around his neck. “I already have the best one.” She pulled him down for a kiss pushing all her anxiety and relief into it.


	9. Making it Official

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets caught in a hostage situation at the hospital pharmacy. Nightwing, Red Hood, and Signal are there to capture the henchmen.

“What the fuck is with all the stunts?” Red Hood griped, landing his punch on the fourth of Scarecrow’s henchmen in the last minute. Luckily, this area of the hospital gave them enough room to maneuver. Unluckily, the pharmacy where the rest of Scarecrow’s henchmen were barricaded had entirely glass walls. Good to get in. Bad for stealth. The henchmen inside knew they were coming, but then again so did the hostages.

“What do you mean?” Nightwing asked innocently landing his triple flip on top of a henchman and using his momentum to swing into the man next to him, knocking him out as well. He bounced from that to spin into a punch, the velocity from the spin adding force behind the punch, making it powerful enough to break the henchman’s jaw. He surreptitiously glanced at the hostages before ducking the haymaker thrown by another henchman.

“He means you’re being extremely extra right now. Wait… oh my God! Which one is she?” Signal exclaimed, excitedly searching the hostages while he kicked one henchman in the chest hard enough to send them into a far wall, dodging another’s punch to punch him back in his unprotected side.

“The baby mama is in there?” Red Hood cut in. “Which one is she?”

“Hood! Not having this conversation right now,” Nightwing reprimanded sternly.

“Oh, calm down. All these guys are out,” Hood dismissed him.

“But the extensive amounts of surveillance cameras are not,” Nightwing hissed out.

Red Hood rolled his eyes. “Oracle?”

“On it. Five seconds of video gone,” Oracle’s voice sounded over the coms.

“Thank you,” Nightwing sighed.

“Okay, now that that’s taken care of, let’s go save your baby mama,” Signal responded with a grin before jumping through the window at the far side of the room, as far away from the hostages as possible, tackling two of the henchmen in the process.

“Back away or I start shooting with this one,” the lead henchman growled, holding a gun to Marinette’s head.

Nightwing froze. His eyes widened in panic. Red Hood and Signal took note of Nightwing’s response and quickly turned from laidback to tense. “Alright, calm down. Think about this. You shoot her, I shoot you,” Red Hood snarled. “Only I won’t kill you right away. I’ll do it slow and painfully. One shot at a time in the most pain inducing spots possible. Believe me when I say I know all of them.” The henchman looked over to the other vigilantes discretely. “They won’t stop me. I promise you.”

Signal nodded slightly to show his agreement without taking his eyes off the other five henchmen in the room. Three of which were standing in front of the other hostages. The other two were shoveling the last of the drugs they came for in their bags.

The lead henchman narrowed his eyes and pushed the gun harder against Marinette’s temple. She swallowed a whimper of pain, refusing to give him that satisfaction. “Sounds like she’s important to you then. So it seems like as long as I have her, I have my escape,” he jeered back at Hood.

Hood growled in response, but made no move to get closer. Marinette’s mind was reeling. This was now a standoff and she was the keystone. Someone had to do something. Maybe if they could get away from the other hostages she could do something… she just needed to figure out a plan, which would be significantly easier if she was familiar with the bats and how they usually thought and acted. She would use her nausea to throw up on him if she didn’t think he would just shoot her for it.

“Boys, grab a hostage and let’s go,” the lead hostage commanded.

Damn it! She no longer had time. She needed to act. Some of those hostages wouldn’t be able to move and there were children in the group. She stuffed down her fear. She felt nothing. She was empty. Except she wasn’t she had a baby now, she wasn’t just risking herself, she was risking the baby too so she couldn’t just fight and take the attention all onto herself. She needed a diversion. She sent a furtive look to her purse on the far side of the pharmacy and made eye contact with Tikki. She gave a slow nod and watched Tikki fly off to one of the racks of drugs. She tensed in anticipation. 

She waited for the sound of whatever she was going to do and acted as soon as she heard it. She only spared a second to note a rack of drugs falling over taking out one of the henchmen. Having expected it, she recovered considerably quicker than the rest of the people in the room. She used the lead henchman’s momentary lack of attention to grab the hand holding the gun against her head and push it past her head while twisting under his arm to shove him toward the vigilantes. She yanked the gun out of his hand as she shoved him.

She took a second to take stock of the situation. Four henchmen left. All had dropped their bags of drugs to focus on getting out alive. Two headed for the vigilantes. One headed for the henchman under the rack, must be a friend or relative, she thought vaguely. It was the fourth that concerned her though. He was heading for the little girl tucked into her father’s side, probably still seeking a hostage to get away safely. She turned the safety on the gun, or at least that’s what she hoped she did, and threw it at his head as hard as she could. 

The gun made contact, offsetting his balance. He struggled to recover and Marinette slid into his legs in a heroically miscalculated gesture. He fell back instead of forward and landing with his legs on Marinette. She had enough time to curl into a ball protecting her stomach before he kicked her in anger, the impact pushed all the air out of her lungs. She felt the pain radiate throughout her back.

“You fucking bitc…” he never got the chance to finish his insult. Nightwing’s hand was on his throat lifting him up and away from her in an instant. Marinette looked up in awe for a moment and scrambled back over to the other hostages to make sure they were okay. Within a few minutes, the room was flooded with police and the henchmen had been hauled away and were getting put into police transports while the hostages were brought out into the atrium of the hospital to wait to give their statements.

Red Hood helped Marinette up gently and personally guided her out to the atrium after all the other hostages had been led out. “Thanks for the help back there. Impressive job keeping calm and taking advantage of the distraction.”

Marinette hummed. “Thank you guys for saving us. You were very intimidating.”

Jason hummed back. “Yeah, I’m good for that. I’m the bad boy of the bat boy band. Now, interesting use of a gun and all, and I’m really glad it worked, but why, and I can’t stress this enough, the _fuck_ didn’t you just shoot him?” Hood asked bemused.

“I’ve never fired a gun. He was between me and the hostages. If I missed, I might have hit one of the hostages. I’m better at throwing. I knew I wouldn’t miss if I threw it,” she shrugged, still catching her breath. “If I couldn’t get to him after the hit, I knew one of you would.”

Red Hood nodded in contemplation. “Solid reasoning. I’ll go with that. Remind me to teach you to shoot someday.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Next time I see you, we’ll set it up,” she said dismissively and let out a strained chuckle. 

Red Hood grinned. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

Marinette nodded slightly, her face took on a look of concentration and she started breathing deeply again.

“Woah, wait. _That’s_ her?” Duke exclaimed, peeking around the corner to take a look. “Damn, you did good.” He repositioned so he could properly size her up without being too obvious. At which point, she promptly turned to a trash can and threw up. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that.”

“She has really bad morning sickness. Shut it.” Nightwing growled, handing off the last henchman to the police. 

“And that’s why I’m going to pretend like I didn’t see that,” Signal explained like he was explaining to a child.

Nightwing huffed at him and quickly moved over to check on Marinette. He reached out to rub her back like he would normally, but pulled his arms back at the last second. That was too familiar for him right now and she might not appreciate a stranger touching her. Plus he didn’t know how hard the guy had hit her. Her back might be bruised for a while. He would have to check it out later. “Are you alright, miss?”

“Miss,” Red Hood mocked him quietly, but made sure the coms could catch it as he followed the police cars taking the henchmen they had captured to prison.

Nightwing looked up to glare in his direction but didn’t respond. “It’s okay. I’m not contagious. I’m just pregnant.” She waved his concern away before moving toward a bench to sit. 

Nightwing helped her sit with a charming smile. “Congratulations. I’m sure you and your boyfriend are very excited. But, are you alright after being held captive? How is your back?” His voice got nervous seeing her react by cocking her head to the side for a second before frowning and turning away. “…Are you not?” he asked carefully.

“Hm?” she hummed in question. She looked back up at him with a confused scowl before the realization spread across her face. “Oh! No, yes. Yes I’m fine, or will be and I think I’ll just have bruises, nothing broken and we’re very excited.” She gently laid her hand on her belly. “I just realized I don’t know what we are. We haven’t had that discussion. Ugh. I need to lay down for a second. Excuse me.” She walked herself back down until she was lying flat on the bench with her eyes closed and breathing deeply.

“Of course, sorry miss,” Nightwing responded awkwardly. He just realized he thought of her as his girlfriend, but they hadn’t discussed their relationship at all. They knew they wanted to parent together, but not how they wanted their relationship to go or where they were. He was fine with letting the relationship progress naturally without titles, but she might want something more concrete.

“It’s okay. At least this suffering is productive. I’m going to get something amazing out of it.” She offered him a weak smile without opening her eyes and returned to breathing deeply. 

He smiled gently and answered quietly. “That’s a good way to think about it.” He wanted to brush her hair out of her eyes and kiss her, but he reminded himself he couldn’t. He backed off to check on the other victims, glancing back to her every few minutes. She had finally sat back up and her eyes were now open, but that hurt more. Instead of the bright, hopeful eyes he was used to, they now looked pained.

He wanted to hold her so badly it physically hurt to hold back. But he couldn’t do anything, not right now, not like this. He wasn’t her boyfriend right now. He wasn’t Dick Grayson, he was Nightwing, who she’d only just met. The distance grated on him. It burned his chest. He needed to leave. He wouldn’t be able to stay this close to her for much longer without hugging her and comforting her. If his eyes caught on her unsettled, worried eyes one more time, he was going to slip.

He clenched his fists and set his jaw. He had to act now. He looked over to Signal, catching his eye and nodding to him. Signal nodded back in understanding. Nightwing snuck out past the police and grappled a few buildings away. He tucked himself behind a half wall and changed back into his civilian clothes. “Hood can you please grab my stuff on your way back?” he called over the coms.

“What am I? Your errand boy?” He groused.

“Please, Hood.” The vulnerability in his voice was so potent, Hood felt guilty teasing him any further. 

“Yeah, okay,” he agreed.

“Thank you,” he called as he ran back to the hospital. “Marinette!” Dick yelled pushing his way through the people standing around waiting for the police to take their statements and let them leave.

“Dick!” Marinette leapt up from her seat and ran to him, jumping into his arms.

Dick held her tightly, cradling her in his arms and stroking her hair. He’d known she was fine. He had just been there not a few minutes before speaking with her about her and the baby. He _knew_ she was fine, but holding her in his arms was different. He hadn’t realized how fast his heart had been pounding until it started returning to a normal pace with her in his arms.

“How did you know?” she mumbled into his neck.

“You had an appointment here a little bit ago and weren’t answering your phone,” Dick explained, pulling away to check her over. He needed to see for himself she was okay. He patted down her arms and legs and ran his hands over her chest and belly, reassuring himself she was fine before he finally let out the breath he had been holding.

“If you wanted to feel me up, I’m sure we could find an empty office,” she smirked at him. 

He spluttered a bit and blushed. “I wanted to see for myself that you were okay.” He pulled her back into his arms and buried his head in her neck, breathing in her scent. He kept her in his arms for a few minutes before speaking again. “I’m going to have to give a new answer for my favorite hero from now on,” he chuckled.

Marinette froze and pulled away, fear evident in her eyes. “What?”

“After your heroics earlier. I have a new hero.” He looked at her with mock awe. She rolled her eyes and pushed his face away, but stayed firmly in his arms, still too dazed to think about what he had said. “You’ve met the Gotham heroes now. Ready to change your favorite?”

“I did mention the very many times Chat saved my life, right?” She reminded him with a strained voice, playing along with the attempt to lighten the atmosphere, but only just.

“But Nightwing saved your baby. Chat can’t say that,” Dick pointed out with a grin, playing up the joke, but it had the opposite effect. Both of their faces went slack at the comment. She launched herself deeper into his arms as tears started falling. He tightened his arms around her. “I was so worried about you.” He pulled away just far enough to cup her face and stare in her eyes. “I was scared I wouldn’t get to see you again or you’d get hurt or lose the baby. What were you thinking?” 

“I… I was thinking once they took them hostage, someone was going to die, maybe all of us. I was thinking there were people who couldn’t move well no matter how much they were threatened or hit. The henchmen weren’t going to put up with that. And there were kids that could be easy hostages. I couldn’t let them take them. I had to do something. There was an opportunity to do something and I could. Someone had to. The bats couldn’t without me getting hurt so it had to be me.”

Dick’s heart clenched tighter. He understood that motivation. They all did. That was one of the reasons they did what they did. They couldn’t just not help if they had the ability to do so. And he understood why it had to be her. But at the same time, he couldn’t watch her in danger like that. His heart stopped when the henchman she hit turned to attack her. And when the man had a gun to her head… He laid his forehead on hers and squeezed his eyes shut. All the panic and fear he had pushed down in order to function came to the surface and the tears started falling. “Please don’t… please don’t do that again. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you, either one of you.”

“Hey, hey,” she wiped away her tears to gently bring his face up to hers and give him a hopefully convincing calm look. “It’s okay. I’m okay. Nightwing and Signal and Red Hood were here to protect me. I mean, how could things go wrong?”

Dick’s face fell and he held her closer because he knew exactly how it could have gone wrong. All the many ways it could have gone wrong. He’d already envisioned all of them, every unlikely, preposterous, ridiculous way it could have gone wrong, he’d pictured it. “Marinette, stay with me tonight. Just to cuddle. Just so I can know you’re okay.” He rushed to add anticipating her reaction. “I just… I want to _know_ you’re okay. Just so I can feel you in my arms. If it’s too much…”

“Okay,” she interrupted, brushing his face with gentle fingers.

“Okay?”

The hopeful look in his eyes just about broke her heart. She didn’t think she could deny him anything when he looked at her like that. “Okay,” she confirmed. “I’m still a bit shaken too. I’d like to spend the night knowing you were right there with me, protecting me.”

He crashed his lips into hers and God, he wanted to deepen it. He wanted to taste her, but he knew he couldn’t yet, not with her nausea as bad as it was. He settled for gently biting her bottom lip and pulling on it. She groaned into it. He could feel her falter like she was holding herself back from more as well. He broke the kiss instead before either of them could do something that would make her sick.

He pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. “Okay, let’s get you home then. Maybe we can pick up a snack for you on the way. You hungry?” When she nodded, he stood up and guided her out of the hospital. “Commissioner Gordon?” He waited for the man to respond before continuing. “I’m going to take my girlfriend home now. She’s in no state to give a statement right now.”

Commissioner Gordon raised an eyebrow. “She looks fine to me.”

“She just threw up and she’s getting weaker.” Dick motioned to the trash can she had used earlier.

“Sounds like she should stay in the hospital then and get checked out,” he commented critically.

“They can’t really do much more for morning sickness than we can at home,” Dick answered quietly.

Commissioner Gordon’s eyes bulged out and he looked down to her stomach and back up. “Ah. Okay. Make sure my officers have your information before you leave. And congratulations to both of you.”

Marinette smiled weakly at him but Dick gave him a wide grin. “Thank you. We greatly appreciate it. And we aren’t telling people yet, for obvious reasons so if you can keep it under wraps, I’d appreciate it.” Commissioner Gordon nodded and waved them away.

They stopped to speak with an officer on their way out to make their way to a bakery nearby before heading to Dick’s car. As soon as they were out of earshot of the people around Marinette finally spoke up. “So… girlfriend?”

Dick grinned down at her. “I was hoping so anyway.” He stopped and cupped her face again so their eyes could meet. “Marinette, I’m already picturing my life with you. I already know I want you there in my life, which I realize is crazy because it’s so fast. At the same time I know girlfriend doesn’t sound like much considering… everything…”

“Yes!” Marinette kissed him again. “That sounds perfect for where we are. And… I’m already picturing my future with you and the baby too. I like those daydreams.” She wrapped her arms around his neck with a tired look. “Now how far exactly is this bakery? I’d really like to just get back to your place and curl up on the couch with my _boyfriend_ and some delivery and watch a terrible movie.”

He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, encouraging her to cuddle into his side and led her into the bakery they were standing outside of. “That sounds like a perfect night with my _girlfriend_.”

“Hey, Marinette’s boyfriend, next time you’re going to be disgustingly cutesy, turn your coms off,” Jason grumbled into the coms. “We don’t need more people in the family throwing up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few people were wondering about Dick knowing Marinette was there and I realized I cut out the pre-fight strategizing session that explained it. Signal was the first to respond because it was a daytime event and he was already on patrol. He called Red Hood in as backup because he knew Jason was free. Dick just showed up without warning because he knew Marinette had an appointment there earlier and was no longer responding to texts or phone calls and Dick got scared and came to check.


	10. Welcome to the Mad House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick takes Marinette home to meet the family.

“And you’re sure I’m dressed appropriately?” Marinette asked again. He’d lost count of what number that was by now.

“Marinette I promise you. You’re dressed perfectly. You look amazing and not to make you pout, but nobody is going to care what you’re wearing and it’s too late to change now anyway,” Dick assured her again, this time on the steps walking up to the Wayne Manor front doors.

Marinette looked scandalized. “Of course they’re going to care! What people wear affects how people think about them. I mean, each person reacts differently to the same outfit, but it has an effect. And, technically, I’m going to dinner with two of my bosses, which just adds extra pressure on top of meeting my boyfriend’s family.” She couldn’t stop herself from grinning as she said boyfriend despite the spiral she was going into, which was making her physically sick on top of mentally sick. “And Alfred! What if he thinks I’m not dressed properly for what he planned? I don’t want to insult Alfred!”

Dick laughed hard enough to grab his stomach in pain. Marinette pouted at him. “Alfred will only care if you are intentionally trying to be offensive. That’s going to be true for almost all of them.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “But you’re dressed perfectly, I promise you. It’s nice but not too nice. The perfect meeting the family dress. But they’re going to care more about the person than the dress and they are going to love the person.” 

He ran his hands up and down her arms at a soothing pace before pulling her against him and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. She smiled warmly at him and nodded, her lips set in a determined line. “Let’s do this. We got this.”

Dick chuckled and reached for the door. Before he could reach the handle, the door opened up in front of him. “Master Dick and you must be Miss. Dupain-Cheng. Please come in.” Alfred gave them a warm smile.

“Thank you so much. You must be M. Pennyworth.”

“Indeed I am. Please call me Alfred. Everyone else in the family does.” He smiled kindly at her. “It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Dupain-Cheng.”

“Thank you. Please just Marinette, Alfred. It is a pleasure to meet you. Dick talks about you all the time.” She reached up to give him la bise. She pulled away to offer him the box she had been carrying. “I brought some macarons for you and the rest of the family.”

He took the box gratefully. “That was very thoughtful of you.”

“The grey ones are Earl Grey flavored, if you wanted to get to it before the rest of the family.” She handed over the box with a wink.

“Very thoughtful, indeed.” He nodded again with a secretive smile.

“The rest of the family in the living room?” Dick asked.

“They are, Master Dick. Awaiting Miss Marinette quite anxiously, I believe. I’m just finishing dinner. It should just be a few minutes.” 

“Thank you, Alfred.” Dick and Marinette chimed at the same time. Alfred nodded again before disappearing toward the kitchen. Dick smiled to her and guided her toward the living room. “And now, into the mad house.” He took a deep breath as he opened the door to the living room. The room went silent for a few seconds before the noise level ramped up again with everyone welcoming them at the same time. “One at a time,” Bruce boomed loud enough to get everyone’s attention.

Dick nodded to him before going into introductions. “You already know Tim,” he started indicating Tim, who was already at Marinette’s side. Marinette nodded and gave Tim a hug. “That is Damian,” he pointed to the surly looking teen sitting on his own in an armchair. He nodded curtly to her so she returned the gesture. “And Jason.” He indicated a large man leaning against a console table. They waved politely to each other. “Duke,” he nodded toward the young man that just jumped up to shake her hand. “Barbara,” he moved out of the way so Barbara could roll closer to Marinette to say Hi. “Cass,” Cass waved excitedly. “And of course, you’ve met Bruce…”

“It’s good to see you again Mr. Wayne.” She held out her hand to shake his.

“Bruce, please. We’re not in the office. Welcome Miss. Dupain-Cheng.” He said warmly, reaching to give her a hug instead.

Marinette beamed at him. “Marinette, please. And thank you. You have a beautiful home.”

“Thank you, Marinette.”

“Yeah, yeah. Beautiful home, blah, blah, blah. Alfred’s the one that does all the work anyway. Hi, I’m Stephanie.” She pushed Bruce over as she made her way over to Marinette. Marinette assumed it was a common occurrence based on the way Bruce just sighed and accepted it, sitting down quietly to observe the results.

“And this is Stephanie.” Dick repeated with a laugh.

“Hi, Stephanie. It’s nice to meet you.” Marinette grinned at her.

“How are you feeling? Do you need to sit down? Or drink some water? Or have a snack before dinner?” Stephanie fired off quickly.

“Let her breathe, Steph,” Barbara chided her.

Marinette smiled politely. “I’m fine right now, thank you.” Dick shook his head behind her so she couldn’t see. Unfortunately, she followed everyone’s line of sight and caught him. She gasped and slapped his arm. “I am!”

“You just threw up outside like seconds ago,” he pointed out. “In a bag! That we have since thrown away,” he added quickly before Alfred could hear from the kitchen and get upset they hadn’t mentioned it earlier.

“That was your driving,” she wrinkled her nose at him and turned back to the family. “And now that you’re not driving, I feel better.” Dick laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Oh God, I know exactly what you mean,” Barbara laughed in agreement.

Stephanie nodded in approval. “I like her.” She grabbed Marinette’s hand to pull her away from him and onto the couch. Cass nodded in agreement and moved to join them. “Come on, let’s complain about Dick some more. I have all kinds of stories to tell. You’re a fashion designer right?” Marinette nodded trying to keep up with her, both physically and mentally. “Oh girl, have I got pictures for you!”

“No! No! Let me wow her with my amazing fashion sense.” Dick trailed after them.

Stephanie leaned closer to Marinette as though confiding in her, but kept her voice at the same level so Dick could hear as well. “He says ‘amazing’. I think he’s confusing the word with appalling.” Marinette giggled. She wouldn’t agree out loud, but she’d seen some of his shirts and Stephanie wasn’t wrong.

“She met him wearing that red and black monstrosity and she still went home with him,” Jason pointed out. “You’re not going to scare her away.”

“Wow! You withstood that shirt huh?” Barbara sent them a teasing glance. “You must have been wearing your tight pants that night, Dick.”

“Oh yeah. How drunk were you? I’m going to say you were very drunk. Only possible excuse.” Stephanie waved it off.

“Dick has a lot of assets to offset…” she immediately stopped to rephrase grimacing. 

“Hey!”

“Dick is amazing,” she corrected. “And yes he was. And he is smart, sweet, hot, thoughtful, devilishly charming, brave…”

“Says the woman that took down a guy triple her size the first time I met her and took out two henchmen in the hospital last week,” Dick cut in proudly. Marinette ducked her head embarrassed to talk about her more violent experiences in front of his family and her boss. She really did not want them thinking she was dangerous and unhinged. Dick squeezed her and kissed her temple.

“Yeah, we heard about the hospital. Two questions…” he moved so she could see him better.

“Jason, stop being a pain in the ass,” Tim chided him. “She doesn’t want to talk about that.”

Jason examined her for a second. Yes, she was closing off but it didn’t seem to be out of residual fear. It was more embarrassment. He could fix that. “Can’t. It’s in my nature.” He turned back to Marinette with a conspiratorial wink, “Pain in the ass is my middle name.”

Tim groaned. “Welcome to the family. You aren’t really in it until Jason harasses you mercilessly.”

“I thought it was when someone tried to kill you,” Stephanie scoffed.

Cass smacked her upside the head. Stephanie looked back at her betrayed. “What?” She caught Barbara’s pointed look and turned back to Marinette. “…In video games of course,” she corrected.

“Ooh,” Marinette’s eyes widened in excitement. “You guys play? What do you play?”

“Yes!” Duke exclaimed. “How are you at UMS?”

“Award winning,” Marinette smirked. “Literally. You have a copy?”

“As I was saying,” Jason interrupted loudly. “Two questions: one, how are you feeling after the hospital? And two, why did you _throw_ a perfectly good gun?”

“I’m doing okay now. Spent a few days surrounded by either Dick or Tim in meetings or Adrien, my roommate, so I’m feeling a lot better,” she assured him.

“She still has a pretty nasty bruise,” Dick interjected.

“Seen her with her shirt off to know, huh?” Stephanie wiggled her eyebrows. 

Marinette squeaked and spoke louder than she needed to. “As for the gun, we don’t really have guns in Paris so I don’t have a lot of experience shooting, but a gun has more than one potential use. During all the akuma attacks we learned to use everyday items creatively. I used it for the less common usage,” she shrugged as casually as she could. “A baton would have been better but you work with what you got.”

“Oh, I suppose Chat Noir has a baton,” Dick playfully grumbled.

Marinette grinned cheekily at him. “He does in fact, kind of like Red Robin but it can break into two if he wanted it to like Nightwing and Signal.”

Damian scoffed. “Being able to break in half decreases the tensile strength of the weapon, making it less effective.”

“True except for one thing… _magic_.” She wiggled her fingers for effect. Dick huffed out a laugh and Damian scowled.

“Oh, are we comparing baton size between Parisian heroes and Gotham heroes?” Jason asked suggestively.

“I mean you can… but Chat’s could also extend to the length he needs for any task, so...” She shrugged confidently.

“Oooh. I think the Gotham heroes would be a lot more popular if their weapons could do that, too.” Stephanie grinned.

“Anyway…” Jason interrupted. “Do you know how to shoot a gun or what?”

“Oh, no. I don’t,” Marinette answered, returning to Jason’s original topic. “That’s why I threw it. I’m confident enough in my throwing skills to know I’d hit him, but not in my shooting skills and I didn’t want to hit someone else.”

“I’ll teach you sometime,” Jason said resolutely. He wasn’t about to let his de facto sister-in-law not know how to defend herself.

“Oh that’s right. You were the one responsible for the horde of weapons in Dick’s apartment that made me freak out and run in the first place.” She gave him a pointed look.

“You ran because you were afraid.” He pointed out.

“I ran because I have good survival instincts,” she corrected him.

“Clearly not. You ran from Dick,” Damian interjected. Dick gave him a warning look that Damian determinedly ignored.

“Aberration,” she waved him off good naturedly. “You find a stockpile of weapons in Gotham, you run.”

“True. So you in?” Jason asked again.

Marinette stared at him strangely for a few seconds. “Huh. You know, you’re the second person this month to offer to teach me. Red Hood made the same offer.” She missed the glares Damian and Dick sent toward Jason, for different reasons, and the exasperated looks Tim and Bruce sent him.

“He probably just wants to make sure you know how. I’m sure he would be okay with a different teacher,” Jason assured her.

Marinette beamed at him. “It sounds like fun. I’d love to learn.” Dick let out a defeated sigh next to her.

“If you would like to make your way to the dining room, dinner is served.” Alfred announced.

They slowly made their way to the dining room. Dick and Marinette trailed behind the rest so Dick could give her a discrete hug and supportive smile. Jason quickly fell into step beside Marinette. “Damn, you really are the size of a pixie.” He stuck out his elbow to set it on her head. 

Marinette gave him a playful glare, dodging before his elbow could land. “You know, you look about the same size as that guy at the bar… didn’t turn out too well for him.”

“Though she be but little, she is fierce,” Jason laughed. “I’m a better fighter than that guy was. After the baby, we can spar and I can show you and maybe teach you a few more moves in case you need to defend yourself.” He let the ‘when you get kidnapped for being with a Wayne’ part of his sentence go unsaid. “You seem like you’ll be scrappy.”

“I’m better than scrappy,” she smirked at him.

“I can’t wait to see it,” Jason grinned as he passed her to get to his seat.

“No, you’re not allowed to encourage each other.” Dick pulled out Marinette’s chair for her and gave Jason a warning look. Damian rolled his eyes at Dick as Alfred started serving the meal.

“Miss Marinette, I made yours less spicy than the rest of the family’s but if your medicine now allows you to eat bolder flavors, I have another back in the kitchen.”

“No, thank you Alfred. This will be perfect. The medicine helps but doesn’t make everything go away. More like a low simmer rather than a full boil.”

“Oh yeah. Dick said you started your morning sickness extra early. That sucks. I hope it means it’ll end extra early for you too.” Stephanie commented sympathetically.

Marinette smiled gratefully. “Thank you. Here’s hoping.” She raised her water in Stephanie’s direction and took a drink.

“Maybe it’s twins,” Jason offered taking a bite of his dinner.

Marinette choked on her water. Dick patted her back. “What?”

“That’s a sign of twins isn’t it? Early morning sickness?” He asked around the bite of roll in his mouth.

“This dinner suddenly got a lot less fun,” Dick mumbled to Marinette.

Marinette glanced surreptitiously toward the direction of her purse in the foyer before snapping her eyes back to Jason. “That’s not funny. You take that back.”

“Sorry, Pixie.” He shrugged nonchalantly, a taunting smile tugging on his lips. “I don’t make the rules.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Jason Aloysius Hubert…”

“Not one of those was anywhere near…”

“…Sebastian Tobias…” she continued ignoring his interruption.

“What the hell kind of names…” Jason started chuckling incredulously.

“…Winthorp…”

“Winthorp?” His nose wrinkled in disgust.

“… Pain in the ass Todd! You take that back right now.” Marinette finished. She glared at him but her faltering puckered lips, straining not to smile gave her away.

Jason broke out into raucous laughter. It took him a few minutes to calm down enough to speak again, but when he did, he wasn’t ready to end the fun. “I’m just saying having a little Marinette and little Dick running around here together would be cute,” he finished innocently.

She scoffed playfully. “If you want two babies running around here together, you better go find a woman to knock up right quick.”

Jason choked on his water. Everyone else’s eyes bugged out. “No! No! No! Little Dick? Cute. Little Marinette? Adorable. Little Jason? Terrifying,” Tim interjected.

“Hey, fuck you, Timbers,” Jason glowered at him. 

“Language, Jason,” Bruce chided him.

“Well at least that wouldn’t result in a baby,” Stephanie observed, calmly eating her dinner.

“Might result in a death though,” Duke added, seeming not at all upset at the idea.

“I was an adorable kid,” Jason groused. 

“It’s true,” Dick agreed. “You should have seen little Jason running around the manor doing extra credit and bragging about his report card.”

“That’s because my grades were amazing. But not ready to have one of my own honor roll students, so it’s on you, Marinette.”

Marinette leveled a look at Jason. “You know what? If it’s twins, you’re coming over for at least two hours a week…”

“Four,” Dick whispered.

“Per child, so four hours total per week, to watch them for us. Since they’ll be so cute and all. You can teach them with your honor roll brain.” Marinette poked her fork in Jason’s direction still giggling.

Damian scowled at the interaction between Marinette and Dick and Jason. “Threats are unnecessary. It is unlikely you will bear twins unless there is a history of it in your family. Is there a history of it in your family?” he asked disdainfully.

“No,” she admitted.

“Then your panic is childish and unwarranted. It is a statistical improbability,” Damian finished.

“Damian!” Bruce chastised him.

“Back off Demon Spawn. We were just having fun.” Jason growled.

Marinette snorted. “It was a statistical improbability that I would have gotten pregnant in the first place. And yet, here we are. Statistics has taken a giant leave of absence with this pregnancy already.” She stuffed her forkful of potatoes into her mouth with a smirk.

“Life finds a way,” Tim nodded sagely.

The table broke down into giggles. “Dork,” Stephanie snorted, shoving his face away.

“Is it common in France to give multiple middle names?” Bruce asked, trying to keep the group on lighter topics.

“How many names are you planning on giving the baby?” Duke asked.

“Uh, common for rich people anyway. I think they get an extra name for every couple million they’re born into. Adrien has four middle names. My friend Chloe has six.” She rolled her eyes and turned toward Duke. “And we haven’t talked about it but I was only planning on a first, middle, and last name.” She looked over to Dick for confirmation.

Dick nodded, slightly relieved. “Good. That’s good. I agree.”

“You haven’t talked about names yet? That’s going to be a fun conversation. Can I bring popcorn and watch?” Stephanie chuckled.

“Six?” Duke asked.

Marinette nodded. “Unbelievably pretentious parents.” She stopped and looked around. “I mean…”

“Nobody here has more than two middle names, you’re good,” Barbara waved off her concern.

“Oh, thank God. I didn’t want to upset anyone,” she let out a relieved breath.

“No, just entrap Dick and use us for our money,” Damian bit out.

“Damian!” Bruce chastised.

“Damian…” Dick growled lowly. Damian steadfastly avoided Cass’s disapproving frown and Dick’s angry glare.

“Marinette, I apologize for my son’s bluntness. I’ve tried to instill better manners in my children,” Bruce leveled a warning look at Damian.

Marinette blinked a few times and nodded. “Honesty is a virtue,” she started out slowly. “It’s good to be suspicious. I was of anyone who seemed to warm up too quickly to my friends who had assets others might want to take advantage of. A little bit of skepticism is healthy. And at least you’re being honest about it. Most of my friends wouldn’t be if the roles were reversed.” She chuckled slightly before turning toward Bruce. “There’s a respect in that. I know where he stands. He isn’t pretending. There’s no duplicity, no illusions, no pretending for the sake of politeness. You don’t know me and this,” she motioned to her belly, “is a lot all of a sudden to take in, and not just for you.”

“There’s no way she could have intentionally trapped me. I was the one who provided everything, as I’ve said before,” Dick pointed out, his voice sharp and defensive of anyone questioning Marinette.

“Unless it isn’t yours,” Damian hedged coldly.

“Demon Spawn, I swear to…” Jason threw down his fork and started to get up.

“Damian, you will treat our guest with respect or you will go to your room,” Bruce thundered.

“Wow, you are really unafraid. I bet you’re a fearsome sight in any kind of competition.” Marinette sent him an impressed smile. “That’s a valid question. I guess the only way to be absolutely sure is with a blood test and if Dick would like one, I’ll agree to it… after the baby is born. I’m not going to subject the baby to unnecessary dangers just to prove a point.”

“I don’t,” Dick assured her. “I don’t need it. I have no doubts.” Marinette’s eyes shined with appreciation and leaned into Dick as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“But your family might,” she pointed out quietly. “It’s a reasonable request. Believe me when I say if something like this happened to Adrien, Chloe would openly be on a warpath and Alya would be doing all kinds of duplicitous, questionably legal investigations into the woman.”

“Good friends,” Cass commented quietly.

“Yeah, I think I’d like them,” Stephanie agreed.

“And they would demand a blood test, so I understand and take no offense,” Marinette assured them.

“We don’t need it,” Tim spoke up.

“Speak for yourself,” Damian grumbled.

“That’s it Damian, go to your room,” Bruce barked. Damian huffed and pushed away from the table, leaving without a backwards glance. 

“Perhaps it is time to retire to the living room with dessert,” Alfred offered, giving Damian a disappointed look as he passed him out of the room. As soon as everyone except Damian was settled in the living room, Alfred brought out the macarons, setting them on the table in the room. “Provided by Miss Marinette.”

“Oh, these look delicious. What are the flavors?” Bruce asked eying the cookies.

“The purple ones are lavender and honey. Dark brown is chocolate hazelnut. Light brown is salted caramel. Yellow is lemon. And pink is raspberry.”

“Holy shit, Pixie!” Jason exclaimed swallowing his bite. “These are good.”

“Jason, language, please,” Bruce repeated in a tired voice.

Cass gave her a thumbs up and grabbed another flavor.

“If you don’t marry her, I will.” Stephanie agreed, shoving her second macaron into her mouth.

Marinette giggled. “Good to know I have backup options.”

Dick narrowed his eyes playfully and wrapped his arms around her protectively. “That’s it we’re going home. You’re not allowed around my family anymore.”

Marinette laughed harder and cuddled into him, resting her head on his shoulder and humming contentedly as he squeezed her tighter against his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note, when you have bad morning sickness, you tend to keep special bags on your person at all times. Morning sickness is a bitch, my friends.
> 
> Breakdown of belief as it currently stands:
> 
> Dick – Knows Marinette pretty well, wants to know her a lot better. Completely believes he is the father.
> 
> Tim – knows Marinette very well, excited to know her better. Completely believes Dick is the father.
> 
> Cass – Doesn’t know Marinette at all but watched her for a bit to get a feel for whether she was a threat or not. Completely believes Dick is the father.
> 
> Jason – Doesn’t know Marinette almost all, doesn’t really care (he does), but Dick better not screw this up. Leans toward Dick being the father. He’s stupid enough to forget protection and knock someone up.
> 
> Steph – Doesn’t know Marinette at all, but knows Cass. Leaning heavily to Dick being the father since Cass thinks so, but either way wants to make sure she and the baby are okay.
> 
> Duke – Doesn’t know Marinette almost at all. No opinions on who the father is, but already planning on teaching the kid how to ditch the police.
> 
> Damian – Doesn’t know Marinette at all and does not want to. Does not believe Dick is the father. Will be skeptical of any test results saying he is.
> 
> Bruce – Barely knows Marinette but has combed over the background checks and is very impressed with her. Leaning heavily to Dick being the father. Trust but verify. Won't demand a blood test but wouldn't mind one.
> 
> Selina – Barely knows Marinette, met her at the gala for like 5 minutes. Absolutely believes Dick is the father. She was there when Marinette saw Dick again at the gala. You don’t fake that kind of reaction.
> 
> Alfred – Doesn’t know Marinette at all. Very excited to have his great grandchild running around the Manor halls.


	11. Zombies and Vampires and Werewolves, Oh My

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Marinette have a movie night, but choosing a movie isn't so easy when you've lived through hundreds of akumas.

“Are we ready?” Dick asked, looking to Marinette instead of looking around because ultimately, it was more a matter of whether she was comfortable and felt prepared than what they had. He really didn’t care about the movie or the snacks. He was just ecstatic to have Marinette in his arms and without worrying about making her feel like throwing up if he touched her wrong, or at all, or even looked at her.

Marinette looked around, taking stock of their supplies in the dark room. They had their huge bowl of popcorn, some chips, cookies she had made for them to snack on, disgusting looking cheap candy that Dick liked pushed as far away from her as it could be, she mentally thanked God she was almost completely over her morning sickness, otherwise she’d already be throwing up due to the smell alone, water, sodas, and ginger ale in the refrigerator. They had enough supplies to feed an entire group and she recognized that, but she couldn’t stop herself from going overboard for Dick.

“I think we’re ready.” She nodded firmly. “We’re ready for an entire movie marathon if we wanted,” she chuckled self-consciously. 

Dick smiled and pulled her closer against himself. “I’m okay with that. As long as you’re cuddled up against me and I can sneak kisses from time to time, I’ll be happy.”

She grinned up at him. “Who says you have to sneak them?”

Dick grinned at the invitation and leaned down to give her a slow, sweet kiss. He pulled away, gazing into her eyes affectionately and rubbing her cheek gently with his thumb. “Are you comfortable? Do you need another pillow?”

Marinette giggled and looked around them. “Dick, I think we’re good. I think if we stacked up the pillows, they’d be taller than me.”

Dick pouted. “I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable.”

She cupped his face and pulled him down for a sweet, chaste kiss. “I know. Thank you. It means a lot. Now, what did you choose for the movie?”

Dick looked back to the television and started navigating to the show he wanted to watch. “I thought we could maybe watch that zombie show everyone is talking about. I keep hearing how amazing it is. They just released the entire series so we could binge on it.” Marinette tensed in his arms. He looked back at her apprehensively. “Or… we could watch something else.”

She looked up at him guiltily, a frown pulling the corner of her lips down. She started fidgeting with her fingers. “I’m sorry. I just… zombie stories… it just brings back some… um… flashbacks?”

Dick raised an eyebrow at her. “Flashbacks? Flashbacks to what?”

“Paris. Akuma. One of the most effective ones we had. She turned almost everyone in Paris into one of her zombies.” She shuddered at the memory.

He nodded and ran his hands over her arms. “Millions of zombies wandering around wanting to get you… yeah, I can see how that would be terrifying,” he soothed in an understanding voice.

She shook her head. “It wasn’t really the zombies that were so scary, it was… have you ever seen your friends give themselves up in order to give you a few extra seconds to get away? That’s what I see. Not the monster coming. My friends falling. The look in their eyes. The blood. The…” She stared at her hands for a few moments before glancing back up at him with a humorless smile. “Sorry. I just brought down the tone of the night.”

He shook his head. “No, not at all. We’re supposed to be getting to know each other better, right? This is a part of you I never knew about. I want to know. And, I have. Seen people give themselves up to save me, I mean. Not a mindless monster, but… yeah, I’ve had friends and family put themselves in the path of a rogue or a henchman in order to give me time to escape. It… it makes you feel unworthy.”

She nodded along with his words. “Undeserving.”

He nodded in agreement. “Even knowing I would make the same choice. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He pulled her in for a hug and nuzzled into her hair to comfort her. “Any other horror movie tropes we should stay away from?” He tried to lighten the mood.

Marinette pulled away to think about it. “Growing up in Paris is kind of like a double edged sword when it comes to horror movies. They aren’t really scary anymore because we’ve seen them all in real life and the movies could never match how terrifying it is in real life, when your or your friends’ or family’s lives are actually at stake. But on the other hand, it triggers flashbacks. 

“I mean we had zombies, obviously, werewolves, vampires, chainsaw wielders, ghosts, gremlins, invisible terrors, baby killers, like, babies that killed, literal nightmares come to life, apocalypses, firestarter, that one was particularly gruesome. I couldn’t go near any kind of flames for months. Mermaids, not the like, kid’s movie version. The drag you under the water to drown you kind. We’ve had shapeshifters, water monsters, dragons, dinosaurs… I think the only horror story creature we didn’t have is Frankenstein. But evil, deranged monster only concerned about his own desires, creating amalgamated creatures to enact his psychopathic will… yeah, almost daily.”

Dick stared at her blankly for a few moments, trying to process everything she just said. “… No horror movies, ever. Got it.” Dick nodded absentmindedly. “I never knew it was that bad there. Were you ever… did you ever… I mean… I don’t know what I mean.” There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he didn’t know if he was ready to hear any of the answers. He wasn’t ready to hear the suffering Marinette had gone through. She shouldn’t have had to have gone through any.

“There are so many questions that could be. I’m going to need a bit more direction,” she chuckled mirthlessly. “Did I ever get hurt? Yes. Did I ever become an akuma? No. Did I ever kill someone as an akuma? Also no. What did it feel like? I don’t know. Was I the mermaid? I wasn’t. Did I get eaten by the dinosaur? Eh.” She made a more or less motion with her hand. “Did I ever date any of the heroes? Pass. Did I ever date any of the akumas? Once, to distract him so Chat could get him. Didn’t work. Did I ever have to watch my family get hurt or killed? So much. Did I have to watch my friends get hurt or killed? So often. Did I ever die?” She paused for a few seconds before shrugging in what she hoped was a nonchalant way. “Which one?”

Dick froze. His chest stopped rising and falling. He slowly licked his lips as he prepared them to form the words he didn’t want to say. “Let’s start with have you ever died?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d miss that. I wasn’t thinking when I said it and then couldn’t take it back.” She looked away and took a deep breath. “Depends on the timeline. I don’t remember dying. I’m pretty sure that was a different me? Oh,” her face fell as if just remembering something. “I guess this me died a few times too. But I’m still here so that doesn’t count, right?”

He opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to formulate his reaction. She had died. She was gone. Why did everyone in his life die? He would have never gotten the chance to meet her, to imagine their life together, their baby. “… I’m pretty sure it does. How… um… but…” 

“One of the ladybug miraculous’ powers is reversing the damage done by miraculous users, including deaths,” she explained calmly. “The Eifel Tower was destroyed and brought back sooo many times.”

Dick nodded at her words, not really registering them. She had died and she was so calm about it. He studied her more intently. She was looking away, her body tense but trying to appear relaxed. No, she wasn’t calm about it, she just wanted him to be calm. She didn’t want to scare him. He took a deep breath and smiled for her, but still didn’t know what to say. He hugged her closer instead.

She stared at the popcorn bowl for a moment and grabbed a handful, popping one of the kernels into her mouth. “We even had a popcorn monster once. That one was amazing though. Like… have you ever seen the episode of Scooby Doo where the monster trapped them in a giant vat of Scooby Snacks or where the monster was a giant Cotton Candy glob? It was like that. Hilariously ineffective. Everyone kind of enjoyed that one. Alix set up a projector and put on an impromptu outside movie experience.”

She was making a joke. She was trying to lighten the mood. He could work with that. “Well that,” he reached over and stole some popcorn from her, “sounds fun. And that cure thing would be helpful. It would certainly be useful to have here.” She chuckled at his attempt. “Okay, how about a comedy, or a romance, or a Disney movie? Something happy.”

Marinette nodded. “That sounds good.” She watched as he scrolled through the movie options. “Oooh, how about that one? I love the Princess Bride.”

Dick smiled, “As you wish.”

She looked up at him with a curious expression, unsure if he understood the significance of the phrase. She turned to the movie and snuggled further into his chest deciding he didn’t and that was okay. It was still really early in their relationship. There were things she loved about Dick and she loved being with him, but she didn’t know if she loved him. She imagined he felt the same. They were getting closer and she was positive they were going to get there. Until then, she enjoyed all the time she got to spend with him.

He ran languid fingers over her arm as the movie started, enjoying the way her skin felt under his fingers, relishing that he could feel her. That she was there warm in his arms, not laying cold and dead in a box. He slowly moved his fingers to stroke her side and circle her hip, down along her thigh and back up, dipping across her lower back. She ran her fingers up and down his chest in response. They slowly became firmer strokes, getting bolder and running along the hem of his shirt. 

His touches slowly became more caressing and lingering, lengthening the path and getting brasher. He grazed along her breast as his hand passed. She swallowed heavily, pushing further into his chest and moved her leg over his, rubbing it up and down along his leg. Their eyes were still focused on the movie, but neither was watching anymore. They both waited for the other to be the first to break and move their supposedly innocent movie night into something more.

Dick was the first one to break when Marinette dipped her pinky just below the waistband of his pants as she traced his abs. Not far enough to touch anything sensitive, but enough to send his mind racing and let him know she was interested in doing more than watching the movie. He cupped her face, staring intently at her for a few seconds before diving in to kiss her. She melted into his kiss. He moaned as her tongue slipped in to meet his. She pushed up to deepen the kiss and grant him more access to explore her body with his hands.

He pushed their stockpile of pillows out of the way and twisted them to lay her down on the couch. Her hair splayed out on the remaining pillow and she looked up at him with half lidded eyes. He traced the lines of her cheek and jaw, looking at her in amazement. The light from the movie was reflecting off her hair and eyes. She had pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she gazed up at him lustfully. Her shirt was pulled down just enough to get a good view of her breasts and the top of her lacy bra. Her hands were running up and down his sides and back causing shock waves of pleasure through him. “God, you are so sexy,” he murmured almost subconsciously. 

Her lips formed a sultry smile as her hands found their way to his neck and brought him back down to her lips. She whimpered as his lips caressed hers and his hands massaged her. She reached down and started pulling on his shirt. He caught her intention and ripped it off, throwing it away to the side. It landed over the television, obscuring their view of the movie neither had any intention of watching.


	12. Pretending to Be Functional Adults

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's an identity reveal of sorts and plans are made, and broken

“Oh my God”

“What?” Dick came running out of the bathroom, his hair still dripping from the water in the shower and a towel around his shoulders and waist.

“Did you buy every pregnancy book in the bookstore?” She gave him a teasing smile.

He rubbed the back of his neck before pulling his soaking wet hand away and drying it and his hair with his towel. “Yeah, I um… wanted to be prepared. I’ve only gone through a few.”

“I can’t believe you’ve gone through two already. I haven’t even made it through one.” She made her way over to him and took the towel from him, using it to gently dry his hair for him. 

He looked at her adoringly and wrapped his arms around her. “I just want to know what to expect and make sure I’m giving you the support you need.”

“90% of parenting is being there and supporting them. You are going to be a great father,” she assured him gently. “I can see it in the way you interact with your family and talk about the kids you teach, how you interact with Rachel when you visit.”

“I really hope you’re right. And I can’t wait to see you as a mom. I know you’ll be amazing but I still can’t wait to see you rocking our baby and cuddling our baby, putting our baby down for the night before coming to bed…” he pulled her closer and leaned down suggestively as he said it.

Marinette squeaked and covered his face with the towel before he could see the deep blush that settled on her cheeks. She wasn’t fast enough though, judging by the way Dick’s chest rocked with laughter and the way his arms tightened around her. He gave her a peck on the lips before going back to get dressed.

Marinette turned back to his bookshelf with a quiet, “Should have grabbed the other towel too.” To distract herself from her mind going down that road, she continued looking over the books, movies, and cd’s on his shelf. 

When he returned a few minutes later, she glanced up at him quickly before looking back at the CDs. “I didn’t realize you had such an extensive Jagged Stone collection. Oh, I still have your shirt too, don’t I? I’ll return it next time I see you.”

“Keep it,” he grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows. “I’d really like to see you in it… and nothing else.”

She blushed and looked down to collect her thoughts. Instead her focus got caught on something else. She started giggling and looked back up to Dick. “Are those your slippers?” She eyed the fuzzy bunny slippers on his feet.

He grinned back. “They are. I love these slippers. They are extremely comfortable. Maybe if you’re really lucky, I’ll get you a pair too.”

She rolled her eyes at him, “Be still my heart. So romantic.” She giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Did you want to go with me to his concert in a few weeks?”

“You have tickets?” He exclaimed louder than he meant to. “I mean, sorry. How did you get tickets? I tried to get tickets but they sold out before I could get to a computer.”

“Yeah, well kind of. I have backstage passes,” she answered shyly. “My friends are coming to visit that week so it would be going with all of us. You’d be meeting my friends at the same time.”

Dick gaped at her. “I’d love to meet your friends, but Marinette, how did you get backstage passes? And you just happen to have an extra one?”

She cocked her head to the side, confusion clear. “I… Tim didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Do you know the name of the artist you liked who does all his album covers and some of his costumes?”

Dick looked at her suspiciously. “Yeah, kind of. I know they go by MDC.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng…” Dick stared at her dumbfounded. “That’s what caught Tim’s attention for the partnership in the first place. I can’t believe he didn’t tell you.”

“No. I asked him not to. He did a background check on you before the partnership and…” he cringed as the words left his mouth, “a more thorough one after the pregnancy. Sorry. But I asked them not to tell me anything. I figured we should learn that stuff together.”

She beamed up at him and pulled him down for a quick kiss. She stayed cuddled in his arms and looked up at him with a mischievous smile, “So is this a bad time to mention I was given a full briefing on you and your history after my friend discovered who you were?” Dick looked at her for a few moments unsure how to react. 

Marinette giggled. “I’m kidding.” Her face suddenly turned serious. “It was actually two friends, coming from two very different perspectives.” Dick opened his mouth to say something and shut it again, uncertain if she was serious or not. Marinette smiled shyly. “Or at least they wanted to. I had the same reaction you did. I thought it was unfair and we should get to know each other on our own. Although if there was anything I needed to know, they could tell me that.”

Dick nodded. “That makes sense. I’m pretty sure that was the deal with my family too. Even if I didn’t want to know, if there was anything extremely concerning, they would have told me.”

Marinette cocked her head to the side and studied him for a moment. “And my best friend and current roommate’s father being a supervillain terrorist wasn’t considered concerning or you were just waiting for me to mention it?”

Dick furrowed his eyebrows and rested on the arm of the couch, examining her in an attempt to figure out if she was telling the truth this time or teasing him again. But the earnestness and nervousness in her eyes told him it was the truth. “It wouldn’t have been considered concerning unless Adrien showed signs of having helped him. Since nobody mentioned it, I have to assume he didn’t.”

Marinette shook her head frantically, her eyes now pleading. “He didn’t. He… it was a really big blow to him to know his father had done that to not only all of his friends but him… that he cared that little for him.” She looked away as if trying to steel herself for something. Dick tensed in anticipation for what she was going to say. 

“That’s one of the reasons I think he is so excited for the baby. He is so excited to be an uncle, to shower our baby with so much love and acceptance. Even before we knew he was Hawkmoth, Gabriel was a crap father. Always judging, always cold, always putting Adrien down. His only value to him was what he could bring to the brand. It was a completely loveless life. He wants to make sure our baby has that. It would kill him if he couldn’t see the baby or if we didn’t trust him around the baby.”

Dick reeled back in realization. That was why she was so nervous. She was afraid when he found out about Adrien’s father, he would ban him from hanging around his child. He smiled gently and pulled Marinette closer until she was standing between his legs and wrapped in his arms. “I would never blame the child for the sins of the parent,” he assured her. “Remind me to tell you about Damian’s mother sometime, when he’s comfortable with me talking about it. And Stephanie. Her father is Cluemaster. He’s one of our rogues. He’s done a lot of damage, responsible for a lot of deaths. I have never thought less of Steph and I won’t of Adrien.” His voice was gentle and comforting.

Marinette looked up at him tears falling out of her eyes, so filled with appreciation, it pushed the tears out. She lunged at him in a desperate hug, causing both of them to fall onto the couch. Dick chuckled affectionately, but kept his arms tight around her. After a few seconds his face became serious again. “Is that… is that why Adrien doesn’t like me?”

Marinette pulled away from him just far enough to cock her head to the side as though confused, but the sudden tension in her frame confirmed his suspicions. “What makes you say that?”

“He just seems slightly hostile toward me. Not really welcoming.” Dick shrugged as though it was a small thing. She could dismiss it if she wanted to, or they could talk. He was letting her decide.

Marinette sighed and leaned her head back on his chest, staring out the window as she started to speak. “He… he takes his role of protector very seriously. During those attacks, we were usually right by each other. We had a main group of four through most of it. Nino took care of Alya, they were dating back then, I mean, they still are, but… yeah, anyway. So that left me and Adrien to watch each other… and for some reason a ridiculous number of akumas targeted either him or me.” She fumbled for the words. She did not want to lie, but she couldn’t exactly tell the truth either so she settled on a half-truth. 

“So we watched out for each other. We protected each other. We’ve saved each other’s lives so many times. We died for each other. Him… him more than me… a lot more. And now, he still has that mentality. I’m his family. He needs to protect me like his father never did for him. And you just kind of snuck in. He thought he’d get the chance to have an opinion on my romantic interests and now you’re in my life, our lives for the rest of our lives because of the baby. So it doesn’t matter what he thinks of you, it doesn’t even matter what I think of you, one way or another, you are in our lives forever.

“And he’s just worried about you walking away or being like his father.” She worked her arms under her chest so she could angle her face to look at him. She looked at him, sincerity clear in her eyes. “He doesn’t know you. When he does, he’ll relax. I’m sorry he didn’t make you feel welcome.”

Dick reached up and tucked some hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. “That explains why you understood Damian so well and were so comfortable with his attitude.”

She chuckled and leaned into his hand. “Yeah, a bit of similarities there.”

Dick nodded. “I can accept that. I have to earn his trust. We’ll have to hang out more and maybe you with Damian.”

Marinette smiled and nodded. “I like that idea. Maybe we can make a plan for it while we eat? I’m starving.”

Dick grimaced and looked toward his kitchen. “Yeah… maybe we should go out for breakfast… unless you’re a fan of cereal… but I’m not sure if my milk is still good.”

Marinette blinked a few times. “You have no food in your apartment? How do you… eat… like not even snacks? Last time I was here you had food.”

He shrugged sheepishly. “I asked Steph to bring food over while you were sleeping last time. Probably going to need to change that before the baby comes, huh?”

She pushed off of him to stand up and offered him a hand. “How are you considered a functional adult?” She shook her head affectionately.

“I never made any such claims. That’s on you for assuming.” He grinned at her.

She laughed and pulled him toward the door. “Come on, we’re going to get breakfast then get you some groceries and I’m going to teach you to make at least one dish.”

He grimaced. “I should warn you, I’ve been banned from the kitchen by Alfred more than once. It might not be as easy as you think.”

She gave him a cheeky grin. “I’m a very good teacher. I’ve already taught one hopeless, rich boy to cook, I can teach another. Just make sure to pay attention. There’s a test at the end.”

Dick stopped and pulled her back into his arms. He lowered his head so he was barely a few centimeters from her ear, his warm breath brushing against her ear. “And what do I get if I pass,” he asked huskily.

Marinette took a deep breath and slowly let it out, hoping to calm her thundering heart. It was unfair he could affect her like that with just a few words. She looked up at him from under her lashes. “You get to not starve.” He pouted but quickly morphed into a smile when she pulled him down so her lips were now just centimeters from his lips. “But, if you’re a very good student, I might give you a reward.” She smirked and started walking away.

Dick stared after her in a daze. He waited a few seconds for his heart to calm down. “Okay, but it isn’t the same reward you gave your other student, right?” he called after her. “Right, Mari? Mari?” She giggled and kept walking.

After a few hours of getting to know what Dick liked and might like to try, and buying the essentials for a functioning kitchen, they finally returned back to his place. They had just gotten everything put away when Dick’s phone started ringing with a very distinctive ring. “Damn it,” he cursed under his breath. “Give me just a second.” He gave her an apologetic look and walked back to his bedroom to talk.

He came back out a few minutes later with a deeply guilty look. “I’m so sorry. Something came up at work, an emergency they need my help with.”

Marinette gave him a concerned look. “On a Saturday? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. No. It’ll be fine. I just need to take care of a few things. I should… I should be done by dinner if you wanted to stay here. I don’t think we have time for a lesson today, but maybe you could do it tomorrow? And tonight we could go out and get something.”

Marinette smiled. “That sounds like fun. Are you sure you’re okay with me staying here while you’re gone?”

“Absolutely,” he assured her.

She nodded and beamed at him. “Okay. I might run home to change though. I wasn’t exactly expecting to spend last night here and might want new clothes.”

He looked down at her clothes, making no secret of him checking her out as he did it. “Or, you could just walk around naked.”

She giggled and pushed his face away. “Not while you’re not here. Where’s the fun in that?”

He nodded in agreement. “Good point. Here,” he rummaged through a drawer in his kitchen and pulled out a key. “Take this. You can run home and come back and hang out here while I’m out.”

She looked between him and the key a few times. “Are you sure.”

He shook his head and pulled her into his arms again. “About you? Absolutely. Now I have to go or I’m going to be late.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and ran out the door.

<><><><><>

He hated the Court of Owls. He _hated_ them. They never made things easy or straightforward. Whatever they were planning was going to be big and it seemed like he and the other Titans couldn’t get any insight into it. Every time they got a hint, something happened. He couldn’t figure out if the Court figured out they knew and backed off that plan or if his information was wrong or if he was just misinterpreting it. They couldn’t get a foothold into it and it was driving him crazy.

He unlocked his door and threw his keys on the counter, freezing at the sight at the table. There was an amazing looking plate of food, probably ice cold by now, waiting for him. “Fuck,” he cursed quietly and ran his hand back and forth through his hair, mentally berating himself for being such an inconsiderate, thoughtless asshole. He had completely forgotten Marinette was going to wait here for him. It looked like she had even made dinner for him before giving up and going home. He was going to have to do something huge to make this up to her. And God, Adrien was going to think he was right about him.

He moved over to the couch to collapse and call Marinette, but found her there instead, fast asleep on his couch, her empty plate of food on the coffee table. At least she hadn’t waited for him, he bitterly mused to himself. That would have made him feel even worse than he already did. He watched her as she laid there in the shirt she had borrowed after their first night together, hand protectively placed over her tiny baby bump. She looked so peaceful and sweet and perfect. He looked down and huffed out a quiet laugh seeing his slippers on her feet.

He lightly traced her cheek and jaw, feeling his heart swell. He still could not believe he was somehow lucky enough for her to come into his life in the first place, but the fact she wanted to be there with him was overwhelming. He furrowed his brow as a thought occurred to him. Whatever the Court was planning, it was going to be big. What if it was something in Gotham? What if Marinette got caught up in it? He didn’t think he could survive losing her and the baby. He had given her his key for a reason. He hadn’t planned on asking for it back. He already couldn’t imagine his life without her there in some capacity. He didn’t know if it was love yet, but he knew she made his days brighter.

He needed to protect them. He needed to work harder. He had to figure out the Court’s plan and end it before they could get started so they would never have the chance to hurt her or the baby. He needed to double his efforts and stop messing around. He needed to… “Dick?” the sleepy mumble brought him from his thoughts.

He gave her a soft, apologetic smile. “Hey, beautiful. I’m so sorry. Things took so much longer than I expected. I should have called. I’m sorry.”

Marinette yawned as she shook her head. “No, it’s… you were working. I’m out later than I expect for work all the time. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. That’s kind of creepy.” She sat up and looked groggily around. Her eyes found his food on the table. “I’m sorry. I meant to put your food somewhere so you could reheat it when you had the chance to eat.”

“Marinette,” he let out a frustrated sigh. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It wasn’t creepy. I asked you to stay here. It’s fine. You have nothing to apologize for. I do. I let you wait for me without giving you any updates. I’m so sorry.” He looked around quickly, trying to formulate a plan. “Hey, do you want to sleep here again tonight? I can drive you home if you want, but if you want to stay here, we can just cuddle tonight? I need to take a shower and eat something really quickly, but you can go to bed now and I can join you when I’m done?”

Marinette looked at him unsure, her eyes still not completely open. “Are you sure?”

Dick smiled at her and gently ran his thumb over her cheek again. “I would love it. I like having you in my apartment. It makes it feel more like a home. And I love waking up to you. Here,” he picked her up in a bridal hold, “let me carry you so you can go back to sleep quicker.”

Marinette smiled sleepily and snuggled into his chest, resting her head in the crook of his neck. “This is a good way to travel. We should do this more often.”

Dick’s smile widened at the idea. “That’s a promise.”


	13. Round and Round We Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette, Dick, Adrien, and Damian go to the arcade to spend some time together.

“And this was his idea?” Adrien confirmed again.

Marinette rolled her eyes and pulled him along. “We worked on the details together, but yes, it was his idea to spend more time together. He knows you don’t trust him and he wants to try to earn your trust.”

“It isn’t that I don’t trust him…” Adrien pouted.

“Yes it is.” Marinette gave him a pointed look.

“I’m sure he’s great.” Adrien said politely. “He seems to make you very happy.”

Marinette stopped and brought Adrien’s eyes to hers. “Yes, he does. And he knows you’re both going to be very prominent in our,” she placed her hand over the baby bump, “lives so he wants to make friends. He wants everyone in our baby’s life to like each other.” She sighed. “He wants the baby to be completely surrounded by love if he can. That means you two have to get along and Damian and I have to get along.”

Adrien nodded and continued walking. “And do you think that’s possible?”

Marinette shrugged. “I think he’s going to be at least a little suspicious of me until the blood test and there’s nothing I can do about that. But I can push for our interactions to at least be amicable until then. I like him. You always know exactly where you are with him. He’s like some mad combination of Max and Alix. As analytical as Max and fiercely protective as Alix. Unaware of social convention like Max and painfully blunt like Alix.

“And I don’t think he hates me, he’s just vastly overprotective of his family, you know? I just need to keep that in mind. Approach it like if Alix didn’t know me and thought I did something to Kim. And, he doesn’t think I’m worthy of his brother, which I understand and kind of agree with.” She shoved Adrien before he could say anything. “I don’t want to hear it. I’m not maligning myself, I’m complimenting him.”

He rolled his eyes, “Fine.”

“And I think you two might have a lot in common, you and Damian. From what I’ve gathered from scattered comments here and there, Damian grew up in a really harsh environment. Lots of criticism, not a lot of love. Lots of expectations with little praise for him. Perfection expected, anything less punished.”

“Sounds rough,” Adrien nodded. He could empathize. That sounded familiar.

“Yeah. That was before Bruce took him. But things like that, they leave a mark, you know.”

“Yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “I really do.”

“Dick!” Marinette called out and waved to him. 

Adrien smiled and waved politely. He was being ridiculous and he knew it. He had been ecstatic when they first discovered who the father was. He had only heard good things about Dick, which calmed him significantly. But as time passed, he had the chance to start thinking, or rather overthinking and worrying, panicking in other words. He didn’t know him, not really, just the public perception, but Chloe and Alya both said he seemed a bit too perfect. He seemed to be hiding something, but nobody could figure out what it was. And from Adrien’s experience, every time something seemed too perfect, it was. Every. Time.

Dick smiled back and waved before returning his focus to Damian. He laid a heavy hand on Damian’s shoulder and leaned close to him. “You will be respectful. Understood? She is the mother of your niece or nephew…”

Damian scoffed, “Tt.”

“Like that. That is not okay. She’s already agreed to a blood test, purely for you. I like her, Damian. You don’t need to, but you do need to be civil.”

Damian pushed Dick’s hand off his shoulder. “I can be civil with the grimalkin.”

Dick yanked Damian back toward him. “You will _not_ speak that way about Marinette, understand? Even if she wasn’t the mother of my child, she wouldn’t deserve it. But she _is_ the mother of my child, whether you believe it or not. _I_ do. That is _my_ child. That is my girlfriend. They are both going to be your family and you _will not_ disrespect them like that if you want to be in our lives.”

Damian’s eyes flashed with a hurt expression before returning to a practiced coldness. “Understood,” he answered curtly.

Dick turned just in time to welcome Marinette with a hug and a kiss before extending a hand for Adrien. “Are you guys ready? Have you been to the arcade already?”

“No, but has Marinette wowed you guys with her gaming skills yet?” Adrien asked with a sly grin.

“No,” Dick’s smile grew as he turned to Marinette. “She mentioned being good at one game, I’ve forgotten the name of, but I didn’t know it was an overall skill. Been holding out on me?”

Marinette giggled and rolled her eyes. “Well there goes my chance to hustle you. You’ll think you’re ready for it now.”

“Think?” Dick raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh, you’ll never be prepared,” she grinned cheekily and bopped him on the nose before walking away laughing.

“And I suppose you find that charming instead of condescending?” Damian asked stiffly.

“I think I’m in love,” Dick swooned chasing after her.

Damian scoffed. “If I’d said that, he’d have lectured me for an hour,” he muttered under his breath.

“It’s all in the delivery and the attitude,” Adrien commented falling into step beside him. Damian did a double take, not having expected Adrien to still be there or to have heard him.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Damian growled.

“I’m not offering,” Adrien answered casually.

“How about starting with a shooting game?” Dick offered. Damian perked up but deflated quickly seeing him standing next to a basketball themed game.

“I haven’t played basketball in years, that would be fun,” Adrien offered.

“You played basketball too? So did I,” Dick grinned at him. “Let’s see what you remember.” 

The game was close but Dick just edged him out with a few more baskets. Adrien shrugged good-naturedly. “Eh, fencing was always more my speed anyway. I bet Marinette would kill at this though.”

Dick turned to Marinette with an excited smile and got the game set up for her. “You played basketball?”

“No, not even for fun,” she chuckled with a slight blush.

“Oh… did you want to still try?” The excitement in his voice was impossible to resist. He was so desperate for all of them to get along and have fun and she was going to do everything she could to help him achieve that.

“Absolutely.” The game wasn’t even close. Marinette destroyed him. “In your face!” She grinned up at him and cupped his face. “And such a pretty face it is.” 

Dick pretended to pout at her before waggling his eyebrows. “You think my face is pretty?”

“So, you lied” Damian commented with narrowed eyes.

Marinette patted Dick’s cheek. “Not just pretty, gorgeous.” And turned to Damian, shaking her head. “No. I just have really good hand-eye coordination. Lots of practice with that. But I never played any sports outside of gym.”

“You should see her fence,” Adrien spoke up. “I gave her a few lessons and so did another of our friends and she was already really good. But, if she actually tried, she’d be amazing.”

Marinette scoffed. “Decent maybe. But not at Adrien or Kagami’s level. They are both really good. Adrien could have made the national team if he had wanted,” Marinette bragged. “Kagami did.”

“Damian does sword fighting!” Dick offered. “Maybe he could practice with you guys sometime.”

“Sword fighting is very different from fencing,” Damian deferred.

Adrien nodded. “It really is. Completely different skills. He would probably destroy me at sword fighting.”

“I could probably destroy you at fencing as well,” Damian responded calmly.

“Okay. Well then, bring it on little man,” Adrien chuckled. “I’d love to get the epee out again.”

Damian narrowed his eyes at him in response and Marinette laughed at the reaction causing him to switch his focus to her. “Your turn Damian. What do you want to play?”

Damian huffed and looked around. He really didn’t want to share his favorite games with them. But he did want to put them in their place, which meant destroying them in games, and his best chance of doing that was in the games he was best at. It was a Catch 22. Finally Dick made the decision for him. “Let’s play Cheese Viking. Damian is a wiz at that. I think he has all the high scores.”

“Oh, you must be amazing at that!” Marinette cooed.

After a few hours of playing different games, Damian trying to destroy them at each one, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, they decided to get something to eat and take a walk around.

“Ooh, a carousel! Let’s go for a ride,” Marinette exclaimed excitedly.

Dick grinned and started heading to get in line. “That sounds like a lot of fun. You coming Damian?”

Damian scoffed at him and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not a child. I’m not immature enough to engage in such trivialities.” He gave Marinette a condescending look.

Dick gave Damian a dark look, but Marinette shrugged with a smile. “I am.” She turned to Dick with an unaffected smile. “You want to come or stay with Damian?”

“I’ll stay with him,” Adrien spoke up from behind Damian. “You guys go ahead.”

They watched as Marinette pulled Dick onto the carousel and found a pink unicorn to ride. Dick helped her get on it and stepped close so his arms were around her and the pole. The ride started with a jerk and Marinette let out a loud, light laugh that Dick quickly matched. They watched them go around a few times, seeing them staring into each other’s eyes with adoring smiles along with loving caresses.

Adrien finally spoke up gently. “I know you want to protect your family, but she doesn’t deserve the hostility. And I know you won’t listen to me, but as one overprotective brother to another, she isn’t your enemy.”

“She is just another undeserving, unworthy, desperate, _pathetic_ person. Nothing I’ve seen so far has changed my mind.” Damian spoke plainly, not bothering to look back at Adrien.

Adrien’s whole body stiffened. When he finally spoke there was a base hostility and coldness in his voice he hadn’t used since he last spoke with his father. “You can’t even comprehend her life so far.” 

Damian scoffed at him. Like this person could understand what Damian had been through.

“I don’t care if you’re Batman himself. I don’t care if you lost everything. I know you’ve gone through a lot. I don’t know what and neither does Marinette, just that you’ve had to go through unfair shit, too,” he hurried to correct seeing Damian’s reaction. “But you still can’t comprehend everything she’s done and risked for even strangers let alone the people she loves. How many times she stood between an akuma and someone who was too weak to protect themselves. How many times she got hurt. How many times she died. Hell, she doesn’t even remember. All to protect complete strangers who had nobody else. She’s a goddamned hero and quite frankly too good for your family,” he growled. 

“Is there anyone this angel of yours isn’t too good for?” Damian taunted.

“No,” Adrien responded without hesitation.

“Why aren’t you dating her then?”

“Realizing someone is amazing and too good for this world doesn’t mean you would work in a romantic relationship. She’s more important to me than just a romance. She is my family. So is that baby. And now so is your brother. Just like she’s now yours. You need to come to terms with that.” He switched his focus to Marinette and Dick lost in their own world on the Carousel, eyes for each other only. The smile on her lips was the most joyful and carefree one he’d seen in years. He prayed it stayed that way.

“You don’t know what Dick’s had to go through, how much he’s suffered, how much he takes on. He’s too good for her.” Damian answered quietly.

Adrien nodded. “You’re right I don’t know. That’s why I’m giving him a chance.”

“I won’t let her hurt him,” Damian stated lowly.

Adrien nodded. “Nor him, her. Glad we could come to an understanding.” Damian glared at him but looked over to Dick as he and Marinette walked back over.

“Damn it!” Dick groaned as his phone sounded a distinctive ring.

“Maybe it isn’t bad?” Marinette tried.

“It’s always bad. When has it ever meant anything other than I had to leave?” He frowned as he answered the phone and walked a bit away from the group.

“Something up?” Adrien asked.

Marinette nodded with a sigh. “Night’s over. That’s work. He’ll have to go in for at least a few hours. Want us to take you home, Damian?”

Damian looked away with a frown. It wasn’t a scowl or a pointed comment, so Marinette was taking it as a win. “I’ll have Alfred come pick me up.”

Marinette nodded with an understanding smile that rubbed Damian the wrong way. Why did she have to be so understanding? “Okay. We’ll wait with you until he arrives.”

“That is not necessary, I assure you.” Damian responded coldly. “I can take care of myself.”

“Maybe but it isn’t only about you. I’m sure you can take care of yourself, but it’s a family’s job to worry about each other. It’s more for them than for you.” Marinette explained. “So they aren’t worried.”

Damian nodded curtly, accepting her explanation.

“Does this happen a lot?” Adrien asked.

“Dick having to go into work?” She asked with a surprised look. Adrien nodded. Marinette looked over to where he was talking to consider her answer. “I guess… yeah. It’s happening more frequently lately, I think. But then again, we’re together more now so maybe I’m just now noticing. But he tries to get back as soon as he can. Nothing you can do about emergencies. At least he doesn’t zone out at work and forget we have a date until he comes and gets me, like I have.” She shrugged.

Adrien frowned at her explanation. It was starting to sound all too familiar. A parent working all the time, leaving in the middle of family time, or not even showing up for it because they were too busy with something more important. He prayed he was wrong. Dick did seem to really be invested in Marinette and their baby… but then again so had his Dad.


	14. There's a New Oracle in Gotham

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Dick go in for some scans and tests at her doctor's request.

“Are you nervous?” Dick asked as he and Marinette waited for the doctor.

“No,” she said a little too calmly. Dick raised an eyebrow at her. “Terrified is not the same thing as nervous,” she answered back refusing to look at him.

Dick chuckled lightly and pulled her into his chest, nuzzling into her to calm both of them. “I’m scared too,” he whispered.

Marinette shook her head violently into his shoulder, tears starting to well up in her eyes. “What if something’s wrong? What if I’m doing something that is hurting the baby? What if it’s just my body hurting the baby and I can never have children? What if the baby needs surgery? What if…”

Dick interrupted her increasingly panicked rambling. “Hey, hey. It’ll be okay.” He hooked his finger under her chin to encourage her to look up to meet his eyes. “It will be okay. The doctor said she wasn’t worried, she just wanted to know what was going on.” His voice was calm and filled with concern for her. “We will know more in just a little bit and we’re going to get to see our baby for the first time!”

She gave him a weak smile. “Yeah, that will be really nice. I’m really excited to see him or her.” She buried her head back in his chest, taking comfort in the feel of his arms around her. “Sorry.”

She could feel Dick shaking his head as it rested on hers. “It’s okay. I understand. I’m scared to, but really excited to see our Little Bird.”

“Bird?” She asked with an amused smile. “I think Adrien has decided the baby is a kitten.”

“My Mom always called me her Little Bird,” he answered nostalgically. Close to the truth. She called him her Robin, but he couldn’t say that.

Marinette smiled warmly at him. “Little Bird. I like that. Good theme for a nursery too.”

Dick chuckled. “You’re already thinking about the nursery?”

Marinette rolled her eyes and pulled him onto a waiting room couch with her. “I’ve been thinking about the nursery since I found out I was pregnant.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” They heard called out from the door to the back offices.

“Here,” Marinette called standing up. She laced her fingers with Dick’s and squeezed. He gave her a supportive smile and kissed her temple.

The technician smiled kindly at them. “Good afternoon. My name is Julie. How are you feeling today?”

“Nervous,” Marinette answered honestly.

“I thought you weren’t nervous,” Dick whispered in her ear with a smirk, trying to get her to smile again and succeeding.

Julie nodded and gave her an understanding look. “That is pretty normal. This is your first time seeing the baby, right?” Marinette nodded mutely. “That is incredibly exciting and nerve wracking. It was for me. Here’s our room. Please get up on the bed and lay back. I’m going to need you to lower your pants just a bit for me.”

Marinette took a deep breath and sat on the table bed. She looked over to Dick nervously. Despite knowing everything was probably okay, she couldn’t stop her mind from running through all the terrible options. Anxiety and hormones had taken charge of her brain and she couldn’t slow it down or stop it. The spiral was now in control, centrifugal force keeping her from escaping but then suddenly it stopped. 

She looked over to find Dick holding her hand, cradling it to his chest. His other hand was on her cheek, gently brushing it with his thumb. His smile was soft and reassuring. He was there and he wasn’t going anywhere. Whatever happened, she wouldn’t have to face it alone. He would be there with her, holding her hand when she needed a reminder and carrying her when she couldn’t walk on her own. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. She turned back to Julie as she finished getting everything ready.

Julie brought out a small disposable sheet and tucked it into Marinette’s pants. “This should help keep them clean,” she informed them quietly. “Okay now the gel. It’s heated so you don’t have to deal with cold gel. That was never fun for me.”

Marinette nodded and focused on breathing evenly while they waited for the screen to light up with something. As soon as Julie put the wand on her belly, they saw an image appear on screen. Marinette narrowed her eyes to focus on the image. Julie finally stopped moving the wand around after a few seconds. Marinette cocked her head to the side to try to make out the image… nope. She cocked her head to the other side. Nothing about the stark black and white image made sense.

She looked over at Dick to see if he could make anything out and laughed. His head was moving from side to side like hers had, but he was moving faster than she had. “What?” he laughed back at her. “I’m sure it makes sense, I just need to figure out the right angle.”

“Oh, sorry. That’s on me,” Julie assured them. “I’m just taking some measurements first.” After a few clicks she moved the wand to a new position. “Huh.”

“Huh? What huh?” Marinette’s head whipped back to the screen to see if she could figure out what Julie was seeing. “Something wrong with the baby?”

Julie smiled widely. “No, not as far as I can tell anyway. I’m not seeing anything of concern… with either one.”

“Either?” Dick’s voice cracked as he repeated the word.

Julie moved the wand to a slightly better position and suddenly the image became… ‘very’ wasn’t quite the right word, but more clear. If she squinted, Marinette could make out two little heads and bodies curled up around each other. “Either,” she repeated. “Would you like to hear your babies’ heartbeats?”

Marinette nodded in a daze, refusing to remove her eyes from the screen. Twins. They were going to have twins. They were going to have twins and her parents were half a world away. Two babies not just one. She was terrified of not being able to be a good mom to one baby and now there were two. How was she going to support two babies?

Her mind stopped when she heard the distinctive sound of a heartbeat. It sounded like the heartbeat had an echo, the second heartbeat. She looked to the edge of the monitor. There were two numbers there, one for the heartrate of the first baby and one for the heartrate of the second baby. “They match,” she commented quietly.

“What?” Dick asked giving her a confused look.

“Their heartrates, they match.” She smiled as tears started gently falling. “I always wanted a sibling to play with growing up. Our babies are going to have that. And they’re already in sync. They’re already protecting each other.”

Dick smiled and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Two Little Birds.” 

Marinette giggled and pulled him down for a kiss. She rested her head against his temple watching the monitor change as Julie moved the wand around to take more measurements and pictures of the babies. “Twins,” she repeated in awe watching the monitor.

“Twins,” Dick repeated happily.

“Did you want to know the gender now?” Julie asked.

“You can tell already?”

“They are in a good position for it otherwise I probably wouldn’t be able to for a few weeks. You guys are incredibly lucky, this almost never happens this early.” Julie offered. Marinette looked over to Dick for his input. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought about it. “I could also write it down for you if you prefer. Or, you will likely have a few more ultrasounds so you can find out then.”

“What do _you_ think?” Dick asked her carefully.

“I think it might help for buying clothes and _designing_ clothes, figuring out what we want to do, picking names, but I don’t know,” she finished uncertainly. “What do you think? What do you want to do?”

“I… I want to know,” his voice became confident as he spoke the words. “I want to know what we are having and what names to pick.”

“Okay,” Marinette squeezed his hand again and turned to Julie. “We want to know, please.”

“If you’re sure,” she waited for Marinette and Dick to nod before continuing. “This one,” she indicated the baby on the left, “is a boy. And this one,” she indicated the baby on the right, “is a girl.”

Dick grinned impossibly wider. “A little Marinette and a little Dick,” he commented quietly.

“Oh,” Marinette gasped and her face turned to sudden realization. “Oh, I’m going to kill Jason,” she growled.

“It isn’t his fault,” Dick laughed.

“Don’t you dare defend him. Yes it is! He spoke it into existence. He owes me food and babysitting,” she pouted. “I’m eating for three because of him.”

“Pretty sure it’s because of us,” Dick commented wryly. He laughed at Marinette’s mock glare and shifted his expression to mock solemnity. “I will let him know.”

“And Lucius! I’m not talking to Lucius right now either,” she added on.

“What did Lucius do?”

“He agreed with Jason, the traitor.”

“You really should have expected that when you told him,” Dick shrugged kissing her temple, the grin on his face too wide to wipe off.

“ _I_ didn’t tell him. Tim did,” Marinette corrected. Dick nodded with a bemused smile rather than say anything. “How am _I_ going to carry twins?” She suddenly asked in a horrified voice.

“I’m just printing off some shots for you to take with you and show around if you want to. The doctor will want to speak with you in just a few minutes to discuss what to expect with twins. I can take you to the next room when you’re ready. Here’s a towel to wipe off the rest of the gel. Just knock on the door when you’re ready.” She handed them the ultrasound images and gave them a smile before leaving the room.

Dick took the images and studied them in awe while Marinette cleaned off her stomach. There were his babies, both of them. He could just make out their heads and their chests. He traced the lines of their bodies, a sense of love and protectiveness swelling in him. A goofy grin on his face. He knew he was going to freak out about how to manage it later but today, right now, he just wanted to bask in this. Marinette curled into his embrace and rested her head on his chest looking at the images as well, a contented smile on her face.

<><><><><>

Dick pulled out his phone while he waited for Marinette to get back from the bathroom and dialed a familiar number, the grin on his face too wide to hide. “Hey, you might want to avoid Marinette for a little while.”

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds as all the possible infractions against Marinette were considered, until finally the correct one registered. “…Holy shit! No way! You’re kidding,” Jason’s laughter boomed through the phone. “Congrats, man.”

“Thanks,” Dick grinned.

“Is she actually mad?” Dick could hear the cringe through the phone.

“Nah. Scared about how we’re going to manage it, we both are, but not mad. Happy though. Excited. I’m going to have twins, Jay. I’m going to be a dad.” Dick couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped his lips. He was going to have two babies. He was going to have a family. He knew he was going to be a father before but actually seeing the baby made it so much more real than just seeing a bump.

“Yeah you are.”

“A boy and a girl.”

“You found out already?”

“Yeah, apparently we were really lucky and they were in the perfect position.”

“Hey! I called it. Holy shit. There’s a new Oracle in town, baby.”

Dick laughed bordering on hysterically and ran his hand through his hair. “You better watch it. I might tell Barbara you said that.”

“Hey, I already promised to babysit for a few hours a week. What more do you want?”

“Marinette wants food.”

“Is that Jason? Tell him I want pizza and cookies today. I expect more later,” Marinette spoke up loud enough for Jason to hear.

Jason chuckled. “I’ll bring the pizzas and cookies. Movie night at your place?”

“How about movie night at the manor instead?” He looked to Marinette to see if she approved.

Marinette nodded. “Okay. Then Damian can come if he wants, no pressure, but he knows he’s welcome.”

Dick grinned and pulled her into a hug, kissing her temple. “Spread the word?”

“Seriously?” Jason groaned. “I’m already providing the food, for apparently everyone. I’m stealing B’s card.”

“Fine. I’ll send a text,” Dick agreed.

“And Adrien?” Marinette asked.

“And Adrien,” Dick confirmed. “The whole family.” Marinette smiled dazzlingly and curled further into his embrace.


	15. Ready or Not, Forward We Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Marinette talk about their plan for raising the twins.

There was a voice humming. That was the first confused thought that appeared in her mind. Did they leave the television on last night? She looked over to the other side of the bed and frowned finding it empty. She could smell food cooking… but she was in bed so it wasn’t her… Did Dick have someone over? Give her a second, she could figure this out, she just needed to start thinking… and eating. 

She walked over to Dick’s dresser and grabbed one of his larger shirts, throwing it on. She pulled the collar up to smell it and gave a contented sigh. It smelled like him. She was really going to have to talk to him about getting a drawer here or something. Although when the babies come he was probably going to be spending time at her place instead… if that’s what they were doing. Is that what they were doing? That was a question for future Marinette and Dick. Present Marinette and babies needed food.

She walked out into the living area and paused to observe him. He was standing in front of the stove in sweatpants and a tight shirt. The pants were fairly loose but tight enough to show off his muscular behind. She bit her lip in appreciation at the sight before her eyes wandered up to his back. His shirt was tight enough that she could see his muscles moving with each subtle movement he made cooking the food. She still couldn’t believe she’d gotten lucky enough to have attracted his attention, but she felt like the luckiest person that she did. Despite the fact that he was currently humming what appeared to be circus songs.

She padded over and wrapped her arms around him, careful to miss the bruises she knew he still had from whatever altercation he had on his last trip for work a few days ago. She poked her head around his side to see how his first attempt at cooking solo was going, silently cursing how tall he was or maybe how short she was which meant she couldn’t just look over his shoulder. She gently kissed the dressing on his bicep before looking up at him with a warm smile. “Morning, Bluebird.”

Dick froze for a moment. He smiled down at her innocently. “Bluebird?”

She shrugged moving to lean against the counter next to him. “You called the twins Little Birds. Can’t call you Big Bird, for obvious reasons. You wear blue a lot.” She motioned to his shirt. “Beautiful blue eyes…” she motioned to his eyes. “Bluebird.”

He leaned down to give her a kiss. “Now I just need to figure out a nick name for you. Something that captures how beautiful and brave and brilliant you are.”

He grinned proudly as Marinette flushed deeply and looked away. “So, showing off by making breakfast?”

He chuckled at her change of subject. “I thought I’d try scrambled eggs. It looked pretty easy. I mean you start by mixing up the eggs. And pastries from the bakery down the street. Easy breakfast.”

Marinette nodded. “Looks tasty. And I’m starving so,” she popped a ripped off corner of croissant into her mouth and hummed in appreciation, “it looks amazing to me.” She looked longingly at the counter space next to him for a few seconds. “If I ask you to help me up on the counter, will you make fun of me?”

Dick chuckled and helped her onto the counter next to where he was cooking. “Probably,” he shrugged. He grabbed a plate and scooped half the eggs onto it, handing one plate to Marinette. He scooped the other half on his plate and leaned against the counter on the other side of her. Marinette took a quick bite and her eyes suddenly bugged out. Dick cringed and looked down at his own eggs questioningly. “That bad, huh?”

“Give me your hand,” she said quickly. He hesitantly placed his hand in hers, fully expecting her to rap his knuckles for screwing up scrambled eggs. Instead she placed it flat against her belly. 

He held his hand there unmoving for a few moments until he felt it, a sharp pressure against his hand. “Is that…” he looked up at her with an awed look.

Marinette bit her lip and nodded excitedly. “Oh,” she grabbed his other hand and placed it against the other side of her belly, “I think the whole family wanted to show off.”

Dick looked up at her with a sappy grin on his face before looking back at her belly. “Hey guys,” he said quietly. “Can’t wait to meet you.” He waited to see if they would repeat it, but after a few minutes of nothing, he took his hands away, his smile still on his face. He’d felt his babies. He’d been there for it. The thought of missing it was terrifying to him. He looked over to Marinette and leaned against the counter. “Been thinking…” he started slowly.

“Before breakfast? So early.” She shook her head in mock revulsion. “Must be important.”

“I think so. I’ve been thinking about the future. I’m trying to picture raising the twins,” he started carefully. Marinette suddenly sobered, the teasing look on her face abandoned. She rested her fork on her plate and waited for him to continue. “I don’t want to just see them sometimes. I want to be there for it all. I want to be there when they’re up all night and when they’re playing together and when they’re sleeping. I don’t want to miss it because I’m halfway across the city.”

Marinette nodded along with his words. “I’ve been thinking about that too. Adrien offered to help me when he could, but it’s not fair to him and… he’s not the father. He’s not you. I want to go through this with you.” Her voice was cautious but hopeful.

Dick’s smile widened excitedly, encouraged that she had been thinking along the same lines as him. He set his plate down and moved so he was positioned between her legs. He ran his hands up and down her thighs. “My lease is up next month and I thought maybe we could look for a new place… together. A place for us and the twins so we could both raise them. I know it’s a big step and we might not be ready for it so I was thinking maybe we could get a three bedroom place, so we both have our own space. I mean, I know you already basically live here but…”

Marinette bit her lower lip and looked at him apprehensively. “That does seem to be the best for the twins. I don’t want to do this without you. And I don’t want you to miss any of it, to feel disconnected. I don’t want to have to make decisions without you or for you to find out later because you weren’t there when it happened, but… I don’t want to screw this up either. I don’t want to move so fast we do something we aren’t ready for and end up ruining our relationship. I’m terrified I’m going to do something to screw up their lives before they’re even born.”

Dick nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly! I love spending time with you. When I picture my future, you’re always there, you and the twins, but I know it is really early for it. But…”

“But it objectively makes sense,” she finished for him.

“Yeah.”

Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck as an excited look overcame her. “So, we’re doing this. We’re moving in with each other.”

“Yes, I guess we are,” Dick laughed. “Although, I’m not going to lie, I’m going to miss seeing you in my shirts.” He ran his hands along her sides, pretending to focus on his shirt rather than feeling the way her body curved and moved along with his hands.

“That’s cute. You think I’m going to stop stealing your shirts just because I don’t have to. I consider easy access to your shirts as one of the perks of this arrangement,” she smirked at him.

“Oh?”

“Yep. Free shirts and daily breakfasts. That’s what sealed the deal for me,” she grinned at him as she grabbed a forkful of eggs.

Dick cringed. “I don’t know if I can make daily a part of the deal.”

Marinette gave an exaggerated gasp. “What? I was under the impression that was part of the arrangement. If it isn’t we may have to renegotiate.”

Dick smirked and moved closer to her, giving her a seductive look. “I’m willing to offer other perks.”

Marinette raised an interested eyebrow. “Oh? Do tell.”

Dick leaned down to kiss along her jaw and neck. “Convinced?” he asked huskily, pulling her hips closer to his.

Marinette hummed in agreement. “I think I can work with this.”

Dick chuckled and pulled away to take a bite of eggs, giving her a scrutinizing look. “And just what exactly are you bringing to this arrangement?”

She pretended to think about it for a few moments, leaning back to dramatically tap her chin. “A constant supply of cookies, the fruits of my frequent stress baking sessions, and a whole new wardrobe.”

“I like my wardrobe,” he pouted at her.

“I’m pretty partial to your wardrobe too, especially your shirts like this.” She bit her lip as she ran her hands over his chest and ab muscles, accentuated by his tight shirt.

He hummed leaning closer to her. “I like seeing you in them better… or out of them.”

Marinette raised her eyebrow at him, leaning away from him tauntingly as he leaned closer. She grabbed his biceps for stability when she had leaned back too far. He suppressed a groan at the pressure on one of his worse injuries, but couldn’t hide the wince on his face. Marinette immediately dropped her hands and started fretting over him. “I’m so sorry. I got caught up and forgot for a second. Are you okay? Do you need ice?”

Dick backed away slightly and moved his arm back and forth a bit. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I’m more upset our moment got interrupted.” He gave her a roguish smile and moved back to his spot between her legs. 

Marinette cupped his face with a concerned look. “Does this happen often? I thought you just kind of sat in an office and coordinated security procedures and technology. I didn’t realize you were out fighting.”

Dick sighed and fought the grimace that wanted to settle on his face. He was really hoping he had diverted her enough last night and this morning to avoid this conversation, but no matter what, she kept returning to it. The benefit and drawback of having someone care about you. “I usually am. This time I was out in the field when one of the warehouses was hit.” Not exactly a lie. He was in the Batcave or in the Titans base investigating and researching frequently. And it was a warehouse that was hit, just not a WE warehouse.

“Oh my God, Dick!”

“It’s okay. I know how to protect myself and had good people around me. We took care of it. We got away pretty scot-free. I actually got the worst of it,” he tried to make his voice as soothing as possible.

“Dick, it’s not okay. You got hurt.” She rubbed her hands over his jaw looking at him with worried, anguished eyes.

“I know,” he kissed her forehead. “But it’s part of the job. It’s a risk I know I’m taking and I’m really well trained for it.”

Marinette nodded and gave him a reluctant smile. “I don’t have to like it though. I _hate_ seeing you hurt. I hate seeing you suffering.” She burrowed into his chest

Dick couldn’t stop the smile that spread on his lips from hearing how heartfelt her concern was. This felt nice. Having her worry about him felt nice. Having _her_ worry about him felt nice. Knowing he was on her mind and that he took up that much of her focus felt right. He couldn’t wait to start living with her, to have moments like this constantly. He couldn’t wait for them to become more. “I can think of something that might make me feel better,” he said coyly.

Marinette pulled away to give him a suspicious look but played along. “And what’s that?”

“If someone were to kiss it and make it better…” he trailed off in mock innocence.

Marinette smiled. “Is this a good time to tell you about my magic kisses?”

“Ooh, another perk for our arrangement. The list keeps growing,” he grinned at her before pulling her in for a passionate kiss.


	16. So, An Owl, a Bluebird, and a Crocodile Walk into a Performance Center…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick meets some of Marinette's friends and they attend a concert together, but Dick gets distracted.

Dick stopped breathing while Marinette scratched Fang. Fang’s eyes rolled back as the rest of his body rolled to expose his belly. She was petting a crocodile. She was petting a crocodile that could turn his head ever so slightly and bite off her arm or grab her chest to shake her. She was petting a crocodile that could turn his head ever so slightly and bite off her arm or grab her chest and shake her while pregnant with twins, meaning they were both in danger and she was moving slower, making them more in danger. 

“Don’t worry, Marinette’s always had a way with Fang. He loves the Little Rocker,” Jagged Stone assured him patting his shoulder.

“Jagged, it’s time for the meet with the big wigs,” Penny called in to him. Jagged whined like a child and pouted at her. She rolled her eyes and clicked her pen at him. “Five minutes with the boring executives then you can go out and perform.”

“Fine,” Jagged sighed and stood up grudgingly. “See you after the concert. Dinner on me, yeah? Am I giving you a ride?”

“Wouldn’t miss it, Dude,” Nino agreed.

“Naturally,” Alya said at the same time.

“You are. We’re meeting Chloe at the restaurant,” Marinette chimed in.

“Don’t forget to give him a few more pets before you leave or he’ll throw a tantrum when you leave. He didn’t think he got enough of a goodbye last time and destroyed my room,” Jagged pointed between Marinette and Fang.

Marinette paled at the information. “I’m so sorry, Jagged.”

Jagged waved her off. “It worked in my favor. Played up the rocker image. See you guys out there,” he grinned as he left, patting Alya on the shoulder as he left.

“Did you throw a little tantrum last time?” Marinette cooed to the crocodile. “Such a naughty thing to do. You won’t do it this time though, right?” The crocodile wagged his tail as she scratched his chin and belly.

Dick watched her incredulously. “Unbelievable.” Belatedly, Dick pulled out his phone to record the incident to show Damian.

“Marinette’s always had a way with animals,” Adrien commented proudly.

“One of the reasons she’s always wanted a pet,” Alya rolled her eyes.

“Never did find out the name of the hamster she wanted,” Nino added. “Yo Mari! You still want a hamster?”

Marinette looked up from Fang’s belly. “Huh? Oh, um… I haven’t thought about it in a while. I’m a bit busy to take care of a pet just right now,” she smiled and indicated her growing belly. “Besides, I’ve become kind of partial to cats, especially black ones.” She winked at Dick with a smirk. Dick groaned playfully and shook his head.

“Try spending a few less hours at WE or your studio and that might get taken care of,” Adrien rolled his eyes.

Marinette waved him away and walked over to stand next to Dick. “Not until after the collection is out at the very least. I barely remember dates.” She gave Dick a sheepish look.

“We get there eventually,” Dick shrugged it off good naturedly, throwing his arm over her shoulder and pulling her closer. “Besides, it’s fun to watch you in the zone.” She rolled her eyes, but a blush settled on her cheeks and her lips curled into a reluctant smile.

“Oooh, does she go full on tongue out focused?” Nino asked with a sneaky smile.

Dick grinned, “That’s one of my favorite things to watch. That’s how you know she’s really in the zone. A rogue could come in and start shooting and she wouldn’t notice.”

She gently slapped his chest and pouted. “I’m not that bad.”

“You really are, Princess,” Adrien laughed.

“And the doctor said you shouldn’t stress yourself out more than necessary. Too much stress could cause distress for the twins. We want you to stay nice and calm.” Dick reminded her.

“Mari not stressing,” Nino laughed.

“Hey, I saw her not stressed once a few years ago,” Adrien added in mock defense.

“I hate all of you,” she grumbled burying her face in Dick’s chest. “When do you guys leave again?”

Everyone laughed at her mock tantrum until Alya came over and pulled her from Dick’s arms so she could look at the belly again. “She needs to get the time in now, because when these two come, she’s not going to have time to do _anything_ else. My parents didn’t and they had me and Nora to help.”

“Were you a help or more responsibilities on top of the twins?” Marinette pointed out.

Alya gasped dramatically at her and brought an offended hand to her chest. “Nora and I were angels and helped a bunch.”

“Angels,” Marinette mocked with a smile. 

“We watched them while they ran errands and slept and worked,” Alya continued as if not interrupted at all. She pretended to glare at the three other Parisians in the room. “And we got our friends to help babysit while they went out,” she gave Marinette a pointed look.

The laughter that resulted from her mock tantrum was interrupted by Penny popping her head in. “The concert’s about to start if you guys want to make your way out.”

“You should probably give Fang another few scratches before we head out then,” Alya suggested tossing a look at Nino. 

Nino grabbed Adrien’s shoulders and pulled him over to Fang as well. “It’s time for the boy to become a man. Time to pet the crocodile, Dude.”

Adrien paled slightly. “Fang doesn’t really like pats from people other than Mari,” he hedged backing away slightly.

“And she’s distracting him so you can pet him,” Nino stated firmly, dragging Adrien to the other side of the room with him.

“That was smooth,” Dick commented quietly.

Alya shrugged, “It’s my specialty. But don’t let Mari’s focus fool you. She doesn’t get fooled as easily as Adrien does. She knows exactly what I’m doing.” She kept her focus on the trio on the other side of the room and kept her voice even, but the message came across with the weight she intended. “She also knows it’s better to just let me get it out and trusts me not to do anything too bad. That’s why I’m not that worried about her with you. She’s not easily fooled. She has an unparalleled instinct when it comes to people. She’s deemed you worthy, so you must be. She hasn’t been wrong yet.”

“Than…”

“But there’s always a first time for everything,” she cut him off. She turned to face him, her voice taking on a terrifying edge. “And if this is that time, they’ll never find the body. Marinette has a lot of faith in people, sometimes unfounded, like trusting me not to actually threaten you. You know she knows Chat Noir, right?” she didn’t wait for him to nod before she continued. “He’s particularly protective of Marinette. He loved her like a fish loves water. Not romantic on either side,” she assured him, “but no less potent. You know what his specialty was? Cataclysm. It completely destroyed whatever he touched. No evidence it ever existed.” She flared out her fingers like a magician finishing a disappearing trick.

Dick stared at her, eyes wide, but Alya smiled at him like they were still talking about pets. “But, I’m sure that won’t be necessary. After all, Marinette could kick your ass herself if she ever needed to protect herself. I don’t think Batman himself would stand a chance against her.” She turned back as the others approached them to leave the room. “Are we ready? Fang appropriately satiated?”

“We are. Are you?” Nino asked pointedly, throwing his arm over her shoulders.

“I’m done here,” she smiled up at him as they left the room, not bothering to look back at Dick as she walked.

Marinette walked up to Dick with a concerned look. “You okay? She didn’t say anything too out of line did she?”

Dick gave her a reassuring smile and rubbed her arms before kissing her forehead. “No it’s fine. And I had the heads up from you to expect her to say something. I was prepared.”

Marinette gave him a relieved smile. “Good. She can get a bit crazy protective, but I made her promise to pull it back.”

“I’ve gotten far worse from Jason over far less important things. Don’t worry,” he chuckled leading her to follow the rest of the group. He watched as Jagged walked away from the men he had been meeting with, the fake, plastered on smile slowly fading and turning into a real one as he grabbed his guitar and headed out onto stage.

Marinette gave Dick an excited smile, pulling him down for a quick kiss. She was bouncing on her toes in anticipation. Her face was shining in the lights as she swayed and bounced to the music. He felt the lovesick smile on his face and saw Nino nudging Alya to look at him but couldn’t stop the sappy smile. She was amazing. She was constantly surprising him in the best ways possible. The best days were the ones when he got to see her, when she was waiting for him in his apartment when he got home. 

He stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She nuzzled back into him, lightly laying her hands on his arms. His attention finally went to the concert. He didn’t know how many songs he had already missed in his Marinette trance. He looked over to see the executives Penny had mentioned earlier across the stage from them. Only the youngest among them seemed interested in the concert at all. The rest were either looking at their phones. A flash of something in the shadows grabbed Dick’s attention and quietly gasped at the figure in black with golden, glowing eyes. The Court of Owls were here.

The executives grabbed the youngest’s attention and they quickly left. Dick started breathing hard. The Court of Owls were here and so was Marinette. Whatever happened now would affect Marinette. He stumbled back, trying to regain his bearings. He had to stop whatever the talon had done. He whispered a quick, “Be right back,” in Marinette’s ear and worked toward the area he had seen the talon. He pulled out his phone calling the Batcave. 

“Hello?” Oracle’s voice came over the phone.

“I need RR over at the Gotham Performance Center now. I just saw a talon here,” Dick’s strained voice ordered.

There was a pause for a moment and Red Robin was patched into the call. “Are you sure? We haven’t had talons in Gotham for a while,” Red Robin asked. Dick could hear the strain in his voice as he rushed to get to them.

“I’m positive. I’m investigating right now.” Dick’s voice took on a dark, angry edge. 

“Aren’t you there with… someone?” Red Robin hedged cautiously.

“Yes. But I don’t want to make her and her friends leave if it was just a scouting mission and if it wasn’t I want to get this taken care of before anything happens to her,” Dick answered distractedly.

“Understood,” Red Robin answered curtly.

“They were here at the same time as some executives. Oracle, can you run through footage and get some identifications? Maybe see if there’s any indication if he was here to watch them, stake out the Center, or something else.” 

“On it,” she answered quickly.

“I’m there. Backstage, stage left,” Dick reported.

“What do you see?” Oracle asked.

“Nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary anyway, but there’s no guarantee this is the only place he stopped,” Dick answered, head whipping around to find any break in the pattern. He had to figure it out. He had to know what they were doing here and if Marinette was in danger. He _could not_ let them harm Marinette.

“I’ll give it a more thorough going over. Black Bat? Wanna go to a Jagged Stone concert? I’m coming in now.” Dick felt the rush of air as Red Robin landed next to him. “This is where you saw him?”

Dick nodded still looking around. “Yeah. No idea what he was doing before or after or even what he was after.”

“We’ll look. Oracle will look through surveillance videos. Go back to Marinette. Keep her safe. We’ll let you know if you should leave,” Red Robin assured him laying a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Dick nodded, patted Red Robin on the back, and made his way back toward Marinette. Now that he wasn’t actively searching, he had time to think, time for the adrenaline to turn into anxiety. What if it was an attack? What if they had planned to do something? Marinette was here. Marinette was standing right there. If they’d planted a bomb, she would have gotten caught in it, likely killed and there would have been nothing he could do about it. 

All because of the Court of Owls. All because he hadn’t been able to track them down and stop them. And now they were in Gotham. He not only wasn’t able to hold them off, they were expanding. They were on his home turf in the same city as Marinette and his babies. He was failing them already. The kids weren’t even here yet and he was already failing them. 

He’d been working harder at tracking them down, but it never seemed like he had enough time. Time for Batman, time for Damian, time for Tim, time for the Titans, time for Marinette, time to investigate the Court. Something was going to have to give. It couldn’t be the Court, not until he stopped them.

His focus was abruptly interrupted by concerned blue eyes. “Hey, you okay? You look a bit out of it.” Marinette caressed his face soothingly.

Dick gave her a relieved smile and pulled her in for a tight hug. She was safe and she was with him. She was fine. He nuzzled into her for a few moments, letting his heart and his breathing slow. “Dick? You’re scaring me. Are you okay? You just kind of disappeared for a little bit there.”

“Sorry. I’m good. I’m good. I just got lost looking for the bathroom. Come on, you’re missing your concert.” He gave her a disarming smile. Her eyes flicked behind him quickly, a small frown tugging the corners of her lips down momentarily. She looked back at him with an uncertain smile but nodded, not entirely convinced, but not willing to push it right now. She gave him a lingering kiss before leading him back to their group a few feet away. He looked back over his shoulder quickly and silently cursed reading the brightly lit bathroom sign.

<><><><><>

It was a bad idea. He knew that. He grew up in Gotham. He was a bat. He knew it was a terrible idea to go into a dark alleyway at night and yet, he couldn’t stop Marinette as she followed her heart into the alleyway. He looked around to make sure nobody was around and grumbled to himself as he followed her in.

“I think it came from over here,” she spoke quietly. She eased closer to a cluster of boxes next to a large trash bin. She slowly, silently moved a few boxes out of the way and stopped to listen. They heard another tiny mew from off to the side. Marinette crouched down and was almost crawling on the floor when Dick grabbed her. He was _not_ about to let his very pregnant girlfriend crawl on her hands and knees in a back alley in Gotham. “Can you… Let me,” he sighed. “I think it came from under the dumpster.” 

He groaned as he worked his way between the dumpster and the wall to push it away. His shirt was going to stink for weeks. He would have to just throw it out. He was brought out of his grumbling by Marinette’s adorable cooing. “Hi little one. How are you? You look so cold. Do you want some camembert? Sorry I don’t have anything better right now.” She held out her hand to the little kitten and chuckled when the kitten hissed at her.

“You are feisty and adorable. Maybe we should name you Damian.” She scooped the kitten up and brought it to her chest. He kitten hissed again, but seemed to snuggle further into her embrace.

Dick laughed at the reaction. The name seemed appropriate. “Giving it a name huh? Does that mean we’re keeping it?”

Marinette looked up at him with wide eyes as the kitten took large bites out of the cheese she was holding for him. “We can’t just leave her! Look how scared and dirty she is and so thin!” Dick shook his head and sighed, giving up the fight before it could even start. “Do you think there are any others around?” She started looking around her, moving boxes out of the way with her free hand, searching for any sign of fur.

After a few minutes of looking, they determined the kitten really was alone. “We can take it to a vet tomorrow. Maybe do a flea dip tonight. Damian will probably have some shampoo we can use for it. He might even do it for us. What do you want to do with her?”

“Well, first we need to come up with a better name for her. I’m not actually going to call her Damian. Even if she does have black fur and green eyes like Damian. Maybe Chat Noir?” She smiled cheekily up at Dick who just huffed and shook his head. That would be his luck.

“And then?”

She was quiet for a few moments while she thought. “I’m not sure. I guess figure out a home for her.”

“You don’t want to keep her?” he asked uncertain. She was already in love with the little thing. Why would she give it up?

“I do, but I thought that should be a decision we make together and I don’t want to pressure you into it,” she said quietly, not looking at him.

Dick smiled and pulled her into a side hug, being careful to give the kitten a wide berth. “We were just talking about how you wanted a black cat a few days ago and boom, we found one on our way home from signing papers for our new apartment?” He shrugged and gave her an easy smile. “Who am I to argue with cosmic intervention?”

Marinette squealed and just barely held herself back from jumping up and down in excitement and scaring the kitten. “Are you sure? You didn’t say you wanted pets.”

“I’m sure. Maybe that should be the name.” Marinette looked up at him with a confused furrow of her brows. “Kismet, destined to be.” 

Marinette gave him a brilliant smile. “Kismet. I like that. Oh, you have to call Damian to help us. He’ll be so excited to tell us what to do and help with the kitten.” Dick pulled out his phone to make the call. He paused to watch her fuss over the kitten and smiled at the sight. She was going to make such an amazing mom. He could see it all now; the kids, the apartment, the pet, and the wife… eventually, and he couldn’t wait for it to happen.


	17. Flowers Break Like Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Dick discuss names for the twins. Later, Marinette has an ultrasound.

“What about Oliver?” Marinette suggested, looking up at him from her very cozy looking spot on the couch, surrounded by pillows and under a soft blanket. Kismet was curled up on her lap purring away happily.

Dick scrunched up his nose considering just how brutal his murder at Bruce’s hands would be if he named his son after Oliver. Probably wouldn’t be a murder, but Bruce would find other ways to punish him. He was positive there were pictures he could show Marinette that Dick would never recover from. “No, not Oliver.”

Marinette shrugged and clicked a few more links on her laptop. “Arthur?” she offered instead.

Dick blinked a few times. Was she trolling him? Was this her way of letting him know she knew about Nightwing and about the Justice League? Any second now she was going to offer Barry or Diana. He studied her closely. She was completely relaxed, or at least as much as she could with her growing belly. She looked up to him with innocent, guileless eyes. He smiled at her. “No. How about Thomas John for the boy and Mary Sabine for the girl?” Dick offered instead, taking a seat next to her and scratching Kismet’s head. Marinette wrinkled her nose at it. Dick chuckled. “Both our parents’ names included.”

“But what if we have more kids? We’ve used up all the grandparent names in one go. What do we do for the next one? They don’t get a significant name?”

Dick grinned and gave her a suggestive look. “Already thinking about more?”

Marinette rolled her eyes but leaned back to lay against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I thought it might be an option. I always wanted more than two.”

Dick kissed her head. “Yeah, me too. I thought three was a good number. Maybe four.”

Marinette hummed in agreement and turned her head to nuzzle it into his jaw. “Three or four sounds good to me.”

Dick squeezed her and looked back to the baby name website on her laptop. “Okay, so which names do we use for these two?”

“I don’t think I want to name my daughter Mary. No offense to your mother but it’s a bit too close to my name? It feels wrong and confusing.” She added apologetically.

Dick nodded in agreement. She was right, that would get confusing, especially since he liked calling her Mari. “How about middle names are grandparent names. First names are names we like for different reasons,” he offered instead.

Marinette smiled up at him. “I like that. Now we just need to figure out the first names.” She quirked her lips to the side. “What if you choose the boy’s first name and the girl’s middle name and I choose the girl’s first name and the boy’s middle name?”

Dick nodded and started thinking of names. The girl was easy. Mary would be a good middle name and wouldn’t get confused with Marinette. Then again there was always his Mother’s middle name… But his son’s name was more difficult. What would he want to call his son if he didn’t name him after his Dad or Bruce? What were the important names to him? He couldn’t use his brothers’ names. He couldn’t use one of the other heroes’ names, he’d never live it down. So, what other names were important to him? Zitka? Cute, but hard pass. Haley? No, he couldn’t do that. Robin? He wasn’t going to put that out there so clearly. But then again…

Marinette knew the boy’s middle name. Thomas was her father’s name and Bruce’s father’s name. It was the clear choice. As much as she liked the idea of having a son named Tommy, it would have to be a middle name. The girl’s name was more difficult because it was whatever name she liked. So, what name did she like? She couldn’t use a friend’s name and they already agreed not to use family names. So it was a matter of what names she liked. She knew what her father and Adrien would suggest, some pun. Adrien would probably suggest Catherine so he could call her Kitty. Pass. She could go with something significant to her like Coco or Vivienne or Vera or Carolina or Guo. She loved flowers, she could go with Iris or Heather or Daisy. Rose was out due to the friend rule. But up until now, the most significant thing in her life had been being Ladybug, but she couldn’t name her daughter Tikki or Lucky. But then again…

“I know what I want to do,” they both said at the same time and laughed.

“Well that was fast,” Dick observed with a smile.

“And for you,” Marinette agreed. “Okay, let’s do the girl first. I like the name Lucy.”

Dick repeated the name as if practicing how it sounded. “Lucy. I like that. Lucy Marie. French version of Mary.”

Marinette nodded. “Lucy Marie Grayson.” She turned to him with a smile. “I love it.”

Dick nodded in agreement. “I do too. Now the boy. I like the name Robert. Rob for short.”

Marinette repeated it. “Robert. Rob. Robert Thomas Grayson. That’s a good name.”

Dick hugged her excitedly. “They both are. I love the names. And people said this would be hard. They clearly don’t know what a good team we make.” He gave her a quick kiss that turned into a longer kiss, which turned into an even longer kiss. He pulled her into his lap to get her closer. She started to pull off his shirt when his phone rang. “I hate my phone,” he grumbled. Marinette giggled and nodded in agreement. “What?” he asked in an annoyed tone that he knew the person on the other side didn’t deserve. “That is promising. Okay, I’ll take a look tomorrow.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at him as he hung up. “Tomorrow?”

He nodded. “Tomorrow.”

“Will you make the appointment at 3?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’m really looking forward to it,” he assured her. “I promise I won’t miss this one. Now where were we?” he asked as he took off his shirt.

<><><><><>

He was late. He had tried to get out as quickly as possible, but he couldn’t. There was always something more to investigate or to find. Then he had to coordinate their next move, so he had to call into the other Titans to figure out logistics. There was never a good time to get away. And he had rushed out so quickly he hadn’t grabbed his phone. So here he was rushing to the hospital to try to maybe catch the tail end of Marinette’s ultrasound appointment and unable to let her know or check if she was still there.

He waited impatiently behind another woman as the secretary got her checked in and her insurance information. His foot was tapping a beat at a speed that would impress Wally. Finally, the woman stepped away to fill out her forms and Dick rushed up to the counter. “Hi, I’m here for Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s appointment.”

The secretary raised an eyebrow. “You must be the boyfriend,” the tone he used to say ‘boyfriend’ indicated to Dick just how badly he had screwed up. Dick cringed at the thought. “Her appointment got over about twenty minutes ago. She already left.”

“Fuck,” Dick grumbled and dropped his head hard on the counter.

The secretary clicked a few buttons on his computer and wrote down an address on a piece of paper. He slid it across to Dick. “Good florist. Really nice flowers and chocolates.”

Dick sighed and took the paper. “Thank you. I’m sorry.”

The secretary shook his head. “Nothing to apologize to _me_ for.”

Dick nodded in understanding. He couldn’t keep this up. He knew he couldn’t. Something had to give. Marinette wasn’t going to keep forgiving him. At some point she was going to reach her limit and snap at him. And he would deserve it. He wasn’t being fair to her and he knew that. He wasn’t making the appointments he said he would make. He was leaving at the drop of a hat with little explanation. 

The only explanation he had offered was a lie. He could alleviate a lot of this by just telling her the truth, telling her who he was, but he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to drag her into this mess, especially with the Court as active as it was. He didn’t want her worrying unnecessarily or worse yet, getting involved. He wanted her and the babies as far away as possible from all of this. The less they knew the better for them.

Dick stopped by the florist and a jeweler and their favorite take out place, making him even later getting home. When he finally did, he heard the sound of laughter in the apartment. He pushed his way in to find Marinette sitting on the couch with Jason.

“Hey, Dickhead. Only,” he pretended to check his non-existent watch, “what? like three hours late.” He gave Dick a pointed look.

“Yeah, I know. What are you doing here?”

“You forgot this. Roy thought you might want it back,” he said waving Dick’s phone in his hand. “Couldn’t call you to let you know so he called me. Thought I’d let Pixie Pop know and keep her company until you decided to show up again, hear about the ultrasound.”

“Thank you, Jason,” Dick growled. He knew he screwed up. He really, really didn’t need Jason reminding him or getting in his way of apologizing to Marinette, like he knew he needed to. “I’m here now.”

“Again, only a little late. Mari and I were thinking about watching a movie. Want to join us?” Jason offered with a snark in his voice.

“Jason…” Dick hissed.

“Jason,” Marinette gave him an exasperated look.

“Fine, whatever. I’ll go. Nice talking to you Pixie Pop. You need anything, let me know.” He glared at Dick on his way out the door.

Dick sighed and looked down before looking back up at Marinette with the most contrite expression she had ever seen. “I am so sorry, Marinette.”

“Dick, this is the fourth time you’ve missed or been late for an appointment,” she answered quietly.

“I know,” he looked back to the floor, unable to match her sad gaze.

“If you can’t make them, that’s fine, Dick. Most partners don’t. But you keep telling me you can make it then don’t, with no warning.”

“I know,” he repeated, still looking to the floor.

“I asked them to wait for you because I was sure you were going to be there. You said you wouldn’t miss this one. I thought you would just be late again. You promised.”

“I know I did. I’m so sorry. I really tried. I couldn’t get away. I didn’t want to let you down and I didn’t want to miss seeing my babies.” 

Marinette watched him as he spoke. His entire body spoke to his remorse, but then again it always did. He was always sorry when he missed an appointment or a date, when he was late, but then he always did it again. She sighed and looked down. She didn’t know what to make of it or how to respond. She was starting to feel unimportant to him.

“I got these for you. I know they don’t make up for missing yet another appointment after I promised not to, but I thought they might make you happier.” He held out the flowers for her. 

She took them with a mirthless smile. “Thanks.”

“And I thought you might be hungry so I got us dinner. I would have asked what you were in the mood for but,” he motioned toward his phone on the coffee table. He set the bags on the counter.

“Thanks,” she repeated.

Dick let out a frustrated breath. He knew he screwed up and didn’t know how to fix it. The problem was what he already did and he couldn’t change that. “Marinette, I’m so sorry. I know I screwed up. I _know_ that. I’m going to do everything I can to not repeat it. I swear to you. I don’t want to miss any of this. I don’t want to disappoint you. I don’t want you to think you can’t trust me. I’m going to get a calendar and put it right on the refrigerator so I can’t possibly miss it and put every appointment and date on there.” He took her hands in his and stared in her eyes, “I bought this on my way home to show you how much you mean to me. How sorry I am.” He pulled a box out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Marinette gave him an uncertain look but took the box. She opened it with a gasp. She took the necklace out of the box to examine it. “Dick it’s beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you and not enough, I know, but I thought it would look good on you.”

Marinette shook her head and put the necklace back in the box. “Dick, I don’t need flowers and jewelry. I need you. I need to know you’re in this with me, that I matter or lacking that, that at least the babies matter. I need you to be there when you say you will.”

Dick’s eyes widened at her words. His heart clenched. She could not possibly think he wasn’t completely committed to this, to them. “Mari, do you… Mari, you and the twins are the most important things in the world to me.” He stared at her with an intensity that made her believe him, or at least believe that he believed his words. “You, this family we are creating, is the most important thing to me. I’ll do anything I have to in order to protect you three.”

Marinette immediately froze and stared at Dick wide eyed. Her breathing picked up. She hated those words. She hated what they excused. “Dick, what are you protecting us from? What are you doing? Is there something I need to know?”

“No,” he answered quickly, a little too quickly to be true. His voice taking on a soothing tone. “I just meant you are important to me, the most important thing.” He pulled her into a tight hug. “Please never doubt that.”

Marinette nodded into his chest. “Okay. I believe you.”

She didn’t sound entirely sure of her answer, but Dick wasn’t going to question it, he was just going to give her every reason possible to mean it. “Can you tell me what I missed while I was being an asshole?”

Marinette giggled lightly, still strained but at least it was a move in the right direction, and grabbed two plates. “Yeah, I can do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don’t follow DC, the teams would frequently call the Robins, including Dick, ‘Rob’ for short.


	18. Making a House a Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Dick move in together

The apartment was filled with boxes. Just a sea of boxes. Thank God they got help moving all the boxes from her and his apartments because she was pretty sure this would have taken them weeks on their own… well on Dick’s own since he wouldn’t let her carry anything heavier than a few books, about five was her allowed limit. Which was exceptionally frustrating because he was probably right and she probably _shouldn’t_ carry anything heavier _,_ but she probably would have if given the chance.

It had been a long day of packing and coordinating already and she was ready to eat and relax with Dick for a bit before they tackled the rest of the unpacking. She made her way out of the bedroom and toward the living room, but paused before she reached it. She could hear music coming from the living room, which wasn’t at all unusual or unexpected. What was unusual and unexpected was the type of music it was.

“Is that… are you listening to circus music?” Marinette asked uncertainly. She was pretty sure she’d heard him humming circus music before but humming was subconscious. It was things that got stuck in your head and you couldn’t get out. This was conscious. This was him deciding to forego typical music choices and actively search for this music. This was wanting to listen to _circus_ music.

Dick whirled around with wide eyes at having been caught. He chuckled self-consciously and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I tend to do that.”

“Listen to circus music?” She asked incredulously.

“Yeah, it reminds me of my childhood and my parents,” he shrugged sheepishly.

She tilted her head slightly watching him as he focused intently on the box in front of him. “Did they used to take you to the circus a lot?” Her voice was soft and inquisitive. This was a part of him he hadn’t shared before. He didn’t seem to like talking about his parents or his childhood at all.

“I… did I not mention growing up in a circus?” His voice sounded surprised and he looked down as though trying to remember a nonexistent conversation.

She blinked at him a few times. “No…” she started out slowly, “no, I think I’d remember that. You haven’t really talked about your parents. You just said they died when you were nine and then Bruce took you in. You don’t really talk about your childhood at all, other than you were in diapers when you started studying gymnastics. Were they performers?”

A thoughtful expression settled on Dick’s face as he recalled his parents. He nodded slowly. “They were trapeze artists. We all were.”

Marinette gave him a soft smile and settled on the couch to listen. “That’s why you are so good at gymnastics and started when you were in diapers?”

Dick nodded absentmindedly as he started looking through the stack of framed posters leaning against the wall. “And why the manor has a trapeze set up.” He pulled out a poster leaning against the wall to show her. The poster was a stylized poster of a family of three swinging and flipping on a trapeze with bold letters sprawled across it. “We were the Flying Graysons at Haley’s Circus.”

“You're kidding,” she chuckled. “So you flew through the air with the greatest of ease?”

He grinned back, “What can I say, I was a daring young man on the flying trapeze.”

She gave him a supportive smile. “That’s why your Mom called you Little Bird, because you flew through the air.”

He nodded and turned back to the poster. When he spoke again it was soft and respectful. “We all flew. I miss it a lot, the feeling of flying through the air with a partner.” 

Marinette looked at the poster, a distant look settling in her eyes. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

He looked back at her with a confused quirk to his head. “You do?”

“Oh, not like you. I… never mind. Akuma stuff,” she deferred, waving him off. “Tell me more about it. About your parents and the circus.” She looked up at him with big, inquisitive eyes. She really did want to know more about him and the things that mattered to him, that made him the man he was. And if that got the attention off her as well, then so much the better.

Dick grinned and sat on the couch next to her. “It was great. We traveled all around. I got to see so many places growing up and my parents were always right there for me. My Mom used to have the best, warmest smile. She made every place feel like home.” He looked over at Marinette and ran his fingers along her jaw. “Your smile reminds me of hers.” 

Marinette blushed and looked down. She took a moment to gather herself and finally cleared her throat. “What about your Dad?”

“My Dad was great. He was supportive and loving. His laugh boomed out of him. He laughed with his whole body.”

“That sounds like you.” Marinette gazed adoringly up at him. “You laugh so hard your eyes crinkle and you throw your head back. Your whole chest shakes, which feels amazing when I’m pressed up against you when you do it. It’s always so full of life. You must have his laugh.” Dick stared at her in a lovesick daze. He was about to pull her to him and kiss her senseless when she spoke up again. “What else? What are your favorite memories?”

Dick continued to stare a few more moments uncertain if he wanted to continue or take her back to the bedroom and initiate their apartment, but her eyes were so fascinated, drinking in every detail of his life he was willing to share, that he couldn’t find it in himself to stop. “Flying,” he finally choked out. “Flying through the air with my parents,” he elaborated more evenly. “And wandering around the circus. The environment was always upbeat and fun. Oh! And Zitka!” His eyes lit up at the name.

“Zitka?”

“The elephant. I loved Zitka. I would hang out around her all the time. I used to help wash her down and we would play all the time. I visited the circus a few years ago… she still remembered me,” he finished quietly.

Marinette moved to cuddle closer to him. “That sounds amazing and if she still remembered you, you must have really been important to her too.”

Dick tightened her arm around her and looked down at her. He traced the lines of her face with his eyes, memorizing every curve and plane. He started to lean down towards her and suddenly cocked his head to the side halting his progress. A sly smile formed on his lips and he jumped up. He turned, bowing at the waist and offered his hand to Marinette. “May I have this dance?”

Marinette giggled at him finally noticing the change in music. The circus music had been replaced by a slow, romantic song. She placed her hand in his and let him help her off of the couch and into his waiting arms. “This one and all the ones after,” she answered sweetly.

Dick’s smile became awed. He leaned closer to her ear as they swayed together. “Promise?” he whispered.

Marinette bit her lip and looked up at him through half lidded eyes. She nodded shyly, feeling vulnerable all of a sudden. Dick had been the one to reveal so much about himself and yet it felt like she was the one exposed, his honesty pulling out her emotions to lay bare.

Dick kept one arm around her waist but brought the other up to cup her face and slowly run his thumb over her cheek. He stared in her eyes, unable to look away from her tender, loving gaze. It took him a few moments to remember how to move his mouth to form words. He took a breath and licked his dry lips. “Marinette, I lo…” The distinctive romance killing chime sounded from his phone interrupting his next words. Dick looked up at the ceiling with an aggravated, frustrated groan. “Seriously?” He took a deep breath and looked back at Marinette. “I’m sorry. I have to… I’m sorry. I’ll be right back.” He walked into the other room to take the call.

Marinette took the time to fan her hot, flushed face. That man was going to be the death of her. Her eye caught on the poster he had pulled out earlier. She reached out and touched the poster, running her hands over the figures in it. A warm smile spread across her lips at knowing more about Dick’s parents and a plan started forming.

“I’m so sorry,” Dick sighed coming back into the room meekly. 

Marinette could tell from the guilty look on his face he didn’t mean just the phone call. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “How long will you be gone?”

Dick sighed heavily and pulled her with him as he leaned against the arm of the couch. “I’m not sure. A couple days at least.” He wrapped his arms around her, settling her between his legs and laid his head on hers. “Less than a week,” remorse was heavy in his voice.

Marinette nodded weakly. “And when do you leave?”

“Tomorrow morning. Early. I’ll have to pack tonight.” He sighed heavily again. “I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t go if I didn’t think it was important, but it really is. I have to go. I’m sorry I’m leaving you with this mess. Feel free to leave it all until I get back.”

Marinette nodded and gave him an unconvincing smile. “It’s okay. It’s work right? You have to go. Timing sucks, but it isn’t like you have a choice. At least we’ll get to spend our first night here together. And I’ll have Adrien come over and help.”

Dick’s semblance of a brave face fell away. He pulled her deeper into his arms and held her as closely as he could, nuzzling into her and committing her calming smell to memory. He hated the Court of Owls. Everything about them destroyed his life. He did not want to go. He wanted to spend their first nights living together, together. That was one of the primary benefits of moving in together, the babies, but also because he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. And it was a way to ensure she actually slept instead of working through the night on designing or sleeping in a chair at her studio. 

Instead, she was going to be spending her nights alone and he’d have to have one of his brothers check on her. She was going to have to unpack on her own and have Adrien come and help her. He felt like he was abandoning her. He should be doing those things not them. But he couldn’t not go. He _had_ to go. He needed to stop the Court before whatever their plan was could go into fruition.

He felt a bump against his elbow and looked down. Kismet was rubbing against him to get in on the hug. He smiled at the interruption. Well, not completely alone. She would always have her black cat to watch out for her. Marinette chuckled and picked up the kitten. “Feeling left out, little one?” She lightly scratched between her eyes and brought her into their embrace. “Why don’t we spend tonight eating take out and cuddling on the couch instead of unpacking? I’d rather spend my time with you in your arms than unpacking.”

Dick grinned at her, kissing her temple. “I like that idea. I’ll order, you pick the show.”

<><><><><>

Has he mentioned he _hated_ the Court of Owls? Six days investigating for one paltry lead. Six days away from Marinette and their new apartment. Six days he left her to unpack all on her own. He was already a shit roommate and partner. He was going to have to make this up to her, yet again. He knew she was excited to move in with him and he felt like he needed to prove to her that it was the right choice. It was a good decision. _He_ was a good decision.

He fumbled with his keys, finally finding the right one. He smirked as a thought came to him. He opened the door. “Honey, I’m… home,” he finished lightly. A gasp left his lips. 

Marinette walked into the room in a beautiful baby doll dress that accentuated her breasts and hung lightly over her baby bump. “Is that noise for the dinner, the apartment, or me?”

Dick took in the sight of the fully decorated apartment, delicious smelling dinner, and enticing girlfriend and could only nod dumbfounded, completely unsure which one to address first. “When did…”

Marinette giggled nervously. “If you don’t like anything, we can change it,” she rushed to assure him. “I didn’t know if you would appreciate decorating with me or having it done when you got home more, so I guessed.”

“Marinette…” he looked around taking in more of the details. There were pictures and designs from Marinette’s childhood and friends mixed in with items from Dick’s life and childhood. “Marinette this is amazing.”

Marinette let out a long sigh of relief. “Oh thank God.” She looked around proudly. “I can’t take all the credit. Or most of it actually. I did all the accessories and the stuff on the walls but… a few days after you left Bruce showed up with a bunch of painters, moving men, and furniture.”

Dick sighed again. “Yeah, that sounds like Bruce. Mari, do you like the furniture?”

Marinette gave him a reassuring smile. “I love it. Your family was conspiring behind our backs. You know you said to go ahead and find nursery furniture I liked?” Dick nodded. “I went looking with Tim and Duke. While we were out Tim kept asking about my style. He must be amazing in negotiations. I didn’t even realize he was pumping me for information until Bruce showed up with the colors and furniture. He assured me it was a mix of my style and yours, but if we didn’t like it he paid extra for them to come and switch it out.” Dick sighed again. “I tried to deny it and not accept, but he wouldn’t let me.”

Dick shook his head and kissed her cheek. “No, this is Bruce’s housewarming present for us. It’s how he shows he cares and is happy for us. Honestly, he tamed it down from what I expected him to try, probably out of respect for you, knowing how you would react.”

“ _This_ is tame?” Marinette exclaimed.

“If he thought you’d accept it, he probably would have bought us an entire house and furnished it. And with the twins coming, it probably would have been a manor near his so he could visit more often. Or try to convince you to move us into the manor.” He lowered his voice in a fairly good imitation of Bruce, “There’s more than enough space and I know Alfred would love to hear the sounds of little feet running around the manor again.”

Marinette giggled and pulled his attention back to her again. “So you really like it?” Dick nodded still looking at the pictures. “I asked Alfred for some pictures. He had a bunch. We went through quite a few.” She gave him a secretive smile.

Dick groaned. “Oh God, how bad did it get?”

“Well, I’ve officially decided you suck. You never had an awkward stage. You just went right from adorable to cute to hot to sexy. It isn’t fair.”

He chuckled and turned away pretending to examine more pictures while he hid his blush. “So Alfred provided the pictures, Bruce provided the furniture, Tim supplied the intel.” He looked back at her with a smile. “Sounds like a family affair.”

Marinette shook her head. “You have no idea. You’ve only seen the living room.”

Dick whipped his head around. “There’s more?”

Marinette grimaced slightly. “Tim did more than get intel. He went ahead and bought all my favorite nursery furniture I marked to show you. Duke was collecting the tags for everything while Tim distracted me. The entire apartment is fully stocked. Bruce bought the furniture. Alfred provided the pictures and talked with my parents and together told Bruce which kitchen supplies to get. Steph and Cass helped me pick out accessories and baby clothes. We had a few girl’s nights while you were gone. I suspect you told them not to let me work too late,” she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. Dick gave her his best unconvincing innocent look. 

“Anyway, Tim provided the intel and bought the nursery furniture. He was surprisingly insightful in helping to select a glider we could sit in for hours at a time. Duke and Adrien helped set up the cribs and other nursery furniture. Jason provided a full library of books, from baby books to books they’ll like when they’re a bit older. It was a complete family affair. They were all really helpful and sweet.”

“Except Damian,” Dick added sadly.

“I just haven’t gotten to him yet,” Marinette assured him with a bright smile. “Bruce hired the painters and chose the colors for the entire apartment, made sure I approved before they painted, for everything but the nursery. The nursery was all me… and Damian and Barbara. Want to see it?” He eyed her suspiciously, but nodded. She took his hand and guided him back, the excitement in her smile rubbed off on him. His smile widened as large as hers. She took a deep breath and opened the nursery door.

Dick gasped and took a few unsteady steps into the room. He looked around unable to take in all the details so he focused on the biggest things, the paintings on the wall. Behind the cribs, acting like headboards, there were circus tents, the tops of the tents extending above the cribs. One pained in red and white stripes, the other pained in blue and white stripes. On the opposite wall were the extremely wide, completely full bookshelf and glider. Above it was a painting of trapeze artists in Flying Grayson colors mid-flight. On the third wall were the dressers and above them were framed original posters of the Flying Graysons, Haley’s Circus, and Zitka. In the corner were ropes hanging down and a board linking them high up with a few bird stuffies placed on it.

He stumbled over to the cribs in a daze looking in. The sheets had elephants on them and in them were stuffed elephants. Later he would notice the robins and bluebirds flying above the tents and the ladybug, bee, fox, turtle, and cat poking out between the furniture, but currently, he could barely take in the big things, let alone the details. Marinette came up behind him to wrap her arms around him, as much as her protruding belly would allow her to. “Barbara tracked down the posters and found a bunch of reference images. I sketched kind of what I wanted and Damian and I painted it together.” She left out his reasoning that this was for Grayson, not her. He deserved something nice to look at and while her sketching may be adequate for her needs, her artistic ability was extremely lacking. But he did it, so Marinette was taking that as a win. “Selina bought a lot of the baby toys and bouncers as well as toys for Kismet. Adrien tag-teamed with Steph, Cass, and Jason to force me to bed at a reasonable time so I didn’t stay up all night sewing the elephants. The entire family got together to help. They all banded together to work on it.”

She smiled up at him and wiped away his tears that were spilling out. He picked her up and hugged her so tightly, it was bordering on dangerous for her. God, he loved this woman so much. This was perfect. Everything about this was perfect. She was perfect. He didn’t deserve her, but he sure as hell was going to do everything in his power to change that and protect her and their family.


	19. Let the Rain Fall Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick gets everything ready to tell Marinette he loves her for the first time.

“What do you think? Looks good right?” Dick passed a critical eye over the scene in front of him. “Right,” he confirmed without waiting for a response. Dick had gotten Marinette’s favorite flowers and had Alfred cook some of her favorite foods, because he wanted it to be special, not take out, and Lord knows, if _he_ tried to cook it would be a disaster. He’d brought out all the fluffiest blankets and pillows for them to snuggle under after dinner.

“Mrow?” Kismet looked up at him questioningly. 

Dick picked her up to scratch behind her ears. “I know right? Do you think she’ll like it?” Kismet purred and head-butted his chin. “It has to be perfect. She deserves perfect. She’s been working so hard lately, she deserves a break.” He let out a deep breath, checking everything for at least the tenth time. Tim said she had left about twenty minutes ago so she should be home any minute.

He looked at the flowers again. Should he put one between his teeth? That’s romantic isn’t it? They do that in movies. He couldn’t think of any at that particular moment, but he was positive he had seen it. Okay, so which one should he choose if he was going to choose one? He started heading to the flowers and stopped midstride. The door handle was jiggling. He stood straight up, then decided leaning against the back of the couch would be sexier. 

He put his hand out to catch himself and leaned, keeping his eyes focused on the door, causing him to miss the back of the couch and stumble, almost face planting into the couch. He recovered quickly and decided to spare a glance to the position of the couch before leaning against it this time. He plastered a sexy grin on his face pretending like he hadn’t just almost fell while trying to look cool.

Marinette entered the apartment without looking up. She shook her rain coat a bit out in the hallway to get rid of some rain before she hung it up. Kismet ran up to greet her, having started moving when the doorknob jiggled, but as soon as she got close to Marinette and the scattering of rain drops, she tried to stop, only sliding a little bit from her momentum. She quickly scooted backward with a scrunched up face, horribly offended by the water.

Marinette let out a light airy laugh at the expression. Dick chuckled too, catching Marinette’s attention. She looked up, finally noticing the scene he had set. Her eyes lit up, flitting from each piece Dick had set up. She grinned at Dick and made her way over to hug him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his chest so she could give him a lovesick smile. “Hey Bluebird. What’s going on?”

Dick wove his arms around her as well and gave her his best innocent expression. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Uh huh. So you’ll be fine with me going out with friends tonight? In fact, I’m actually running late.” She started to pull away from him.

He grunted playfully and pulled her back to his arms. “Oh no, it looks like you’re trapped. Must be a problem with gravity today. Guess you’ll have to cancel.”

Marinette giggled. “Oh no. What will we do?”

“Guess we’ll have to stay in,” Dick shrugged. “What a coincidence we have a full dinner and extremely comfy blankets available.”

Marinette hummed at him. “It’s almost like someone planned it.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

Dick nodded thoughtfully. “Almost. We must just be really lucky.”

Marinette shook her head with a smile. “You’re ridiculous. What is all this?”

“I wanted to spoil you tonight. I thought you deserved it,” he said sweetly.

Marinette quirked her head at him, brows furrowed in confusion. “I do? What did I do?”

“Hmm. If you really need a reason, we can go with you grew four tiny lungs today. But in reality, I just thought everything about you was so amazing, you deserved to be pampered,” He answered quietly.

Marinette blushed and buried her head in his chest. “Dick…”

“Or,” he interrupted before she could say something deprecatory about herself. He licked his suddenly dry lips slowly preparing to say what this whole night was about. Dick brushed her bangs out of her eyes and gently rubbed his thumb on her cheek. His heart was thundering as he prepared to say the words he had realized himself a few days ago. He gazed into her eyes, his complete affection for her pouring out. “Or, just because… I love you.”

Marinette’s eyes widened in surprise and her breath hitched. He said he loved her. He loved her! An effervescent smile spread across her face. He loved her. “Dick, I…”

“Mother fu…” Dick yelled out as his phone chimed in a cosmically epic demonstration of bad timing. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket. “Somebody better be dying…” He paused listening to the voice on the opposite side of the line. “Are you sure?” An excited smile started to appear. “Yeah, I’ll be right there.” He hung up and tucked the phone in his pocket. This was exactly what they needed. This could be the key. This could lead to stopping the Court of Owls latest plan and once their big plot was dismantled, he could finally be confident Marinette and the babies would be safe, well as safe as anyone could be in Gotham, but significantly safer anyway.

He grabbed Marinette by her arms and gave her a quick, excited kiss. “This is it! This could be exactly what we needed!” He was bouncing on his toes from excitement. He could not wait for this all to be over and he could finally, finally focus entirely on Marinette, Lucy, and Robert. “I should be back in one, maybe two days.” He kissed her cheek and just barely remembered to grab an umbrella as he ran out the door.

<><><><><>

Patrol was miserable. It always was when it rained. She did not get paid enough for this. She didn’t get paid at all so really this was her own fault. She should know better. She sighed as she swung from building to building, trying to find respite under awnings and ledges. Completely ineffectual things. Why did she even bother? It wasn’t going to be any warmer or less miserable under there at this point. She was soaked and this was stupid. She was going back to the Cave. She just wanted to swing by Dick and Marinette’s apartment quickly before she went back. She was sure Marinette was okay but with Dick leaving suddenly, she just wanted to check on her.

Stephanie settled on the roof and prepared to swing by the windows to check it out when she caught sight of someone standing outside the building. Sucker, she chuckled to herself. At least she wasn’t the only stupid one out tonight. She watched as a car pulled up to the sidewalk and a familiar blonde jumped out to greet the person. The figure almost collapsed in his arms. Fuck! That must be Marinette. What was going on?

Stephanie swung down to the alleyway a few feet away from Marinette and Adrien. She slid a camera around the corner to see what was going on, the sensitive microphone picking up on their conversation for her.

“What happened? I thought things were going well,” Adrien asked into her hair.

Marinette shook her head and continued to cry for a few more minutes. “He… he said I love you.”

Adrien gave her a strange look. “That’s good isn’t it? He loves you. You love him. Celebration time. Practice making more babies.”

Marinette whimpered and fell further into his arms. “But then he ran away. He said it and before I could even react, he ran away. He got a call and got so excited. Like that was the most amazing thing that happened to him tonight. Seconds after saying he loved me for the first time. And then he just ran away like it was nothing… at least nothing important.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes, her cheeks immediately getting wetted again by the rain. “I just… I can’t tell. I can never tell where I am with him.”

Adrien sighed and rubbed her back. “Maybe it was something big?”

“Bigger than me anyway,” she answered miserably. “He didn’t even wait for me to respond.”

“You need to talk to him about it,” Adrien said softly

“I have! He promised he would focus on us. He promised he would make us a priority, that he wouldn’t just cut out anymore. I mean, I understand having to leave. I do. I understand he has to work. It sucks but it’s work and we have it better than a lot of people, but… does he have to act so excited to leave?” She asked desperately.

“Are you sure you aren’t clinging to something that isn’t right because of the twins?” Adrien asked carefully.

“No! I mean they’re a driving force, but I love him. He’s so sweet and thoughtful and funny. He gets so excited about the littlest things and wants to share them with me. He’s so supportive. He thinks about me and considers what I want.” Marinette protested. He was. He was all those things. Adrien just didn’t understand.

“Does he though?” he kept his tone non-confrontational. He needed her to consider his words, and not just get defensive.

“Yes!” She paused. “No… I don’t know. I just… I don’t know. It’s like… when we’re together, it’s amazing. It’s magical. We connect so well. But then he leaves and even when he’s home, if he’s working on work, it’s all he sees. I don’t… I think sometimes maybe I’m the only one feeling like that, but it looks like he is too. Tonight he put so much effort into making the apartment look so romantic. I don’t know. It’s wrong, but I don’t know how or why and I’m trying to fix it, but I don’t know what the problem is so I don’t know how to fix it. And he won’t _talk_ to me about it.”

“Oh, Bugaboo.” He hugged her tighter. “You can’t fix everything. There’s no Miraculous Cure for relationships. If he isn’t willing to make you and the twins a priority, there is nothing you can do to change that. You just need to decide if that is something you are willing to live with. Is it something you’re willing to let your children live with.” He waited a few minutes to let his words set in. 

Tonight had been as surprising as expected. He had been waiting for it to happen. Dick had been blowing Marinette off for weeks. But he had been hoping he had been wrong. And as much as he wanted to go punch some sense into Dick and keep Marinette and the twins far, far away from him, it had to be Marinette’s decision. “Come on, let’s go back to my place. We can get pizza and watch bad movies. A night or two away from the situation might make things clearer.” Marinette nodded and let him guide her into his car.

Stephanie cursed and considered what to do with the information. She knew why Dick had left. She understood his excitement, but Marinette didn’t. And the dumbass had decided he would not tell his extremely stressed, hormonal girlfriend about it, especially while there was the possibility of her going into early labor if she had too much stress. Fucking Hell. She did not get paid enough for this shit.

Okay, so if the dumbass wasn’t going to continue to be a dumbass the rest of them were going to have to pull up the slack. She pushed her com to activate it. “Black Bat, Oracle, Hood, we have some talking to do back at the Cave. Oracle, can you call Red Robin?” She wouldn’t tell them everything, she didn’t want Dick dead, but she could certainly get a better support network started.

<><><><><>

He sped through the rain-slicked city streets, weaving between cars and trucks. He just wanted to get home and it was a _home_ now. It wasn’t an escape from family, it was his family. It felt warm and welcoming, relaxing and inviting. All because of Marinette. Moving in together was one of the best decisions he had ever made. They may have moved extremely quickly, but it had worked out beautifully. He got to fall asleep to Marinette’s even breathing and wake up to her beautiful, bright eyes.

He couldn’t wait to finally see and hold Marinette again. His arms felt too light without her in them. He parked haphazardly in the closest spot he thought he could find and barely remembered to take his keys out before running toward their apartment.

He had been gone longer than he expected, by about a day and a half, and his whole body felt like there was an underlying electricity pulsing through his veins to finish where they left off. They finally told each other they loved each other! They loved each other and lived together and were about to have a family together and he was closing in on the Court of Owls plan. His latest trip was exactly what they needed. It had broken everything open. Everything in his life was coming together better than he ever thought it could, far better than he deserved.

He fumbled with the keys to get the door open as quickly as possible. His fingers weren’t working correctly anymore and for a reason completely unrelated to the massive bruise that was forming on his shoulder and back. His excited smile faltered when he entered the quiet, dark apartment. “Marinette?” It was Saturday. She would normally be home, but the apartment was empty. None of the normal warmth and laughter, no lingering scent from cookies. She wasn’t there. And without her there, their home felt like nothing more than a cold room, one he didn’t want to be in anymore.

He looked over to the calendar on the refrigerator. She couldn’t have a doctor’s appointment on Saturday… Damn it! Baby and Infant CPR classes. They’d signed up for them a while ago. He already knew how to give CPR to babies and infants, but it was for Marinette and something for their babies, so they wanted to do it together. He kicked the cabinets. Yet another missed event. Spectacular. He checked the time and grabbed the car keys. If he pushed it, he could make it there as she was leaving the class and take her out for lunch. He gave Kismet a scratch and ran out the door again.


	20. Dust Yourself Off and Try Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette spends time with Jason and Tim and Dick needs to leave... again.

Tim shook his head, dislodging puffs of dust and tiny clumps of dirt onto the immaculate floors. “There was no reason for me to be there for that.” 

“There was no reason for any of us to be there other than it was fun.” Marinette pointed out, examining the dust on her arms and clothes, but refusing to brush it off. She was a good two shades darker than usual under all the dust, but she wasn’t about to risk incurring Alfred’s wrath by getting the floors filthy. She didn’t know if Tim was still reeling from the explosions or just that brave.

“You enjoyed it,” Adrien laughed, clapping him on the back. Adrien and Tim coughed as more puffs of dust were released by the claps. The group froze at the sound of footsteps approaching. None of them wanted to face Alfred yet, not looking like they did. Adrien’s smile immediately dimmed seeing Dick walk over to them.

“Hey guys,” Dick grinned, pulling Marinette into a hug. He gave Adrien a warm smile. He may not have been able to win Adrien over yet, but he was still hopeful, despite it seeming like things were getting worse. He supposed the constant missions were probably playing a part in that, but it would all be over soon and once it was, he was confident Adrien would see how devoted he was to Marinette.

Marinette squealed and squirmed to get out of his embrace. She giggled as he struggled to keep his arms around her. “No, I’m filthy. You’ll get dirty.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get dirty with you any time you want,” Dick whispered in her ear.

Marinette turned bright red and looked over to the others to make sure they didn’t hear what Dick had just said. “Dick!” she whisper yelled at him before burying her head in his chest. Her face was completely hidden, but the red tips of her ears could still be seen.

“What did you say to her?” Jason laughed. “I haven’t seen her turn that red in ages.”

Dick chuckled and nuzzled his face into her hair. He wrapped his arms tighter around her. He turned toward the group. “Did you have fun?”

Marinette pulled her face away from his chest to give him a playful glare. “Yes we did.”

“What were you doing?” Dick asked. They had left while he was working on reports so he missed what led to the impromptu trip.

“Target practice,” Jason shrugged heading for a chair.

“More like target destruction,” Adrien grinned.

“I wouldn’t,” Tim warned without looking at Jason. “We all got hit with that last explosion. You sit in a chair now, Alfred will skin you.”

Jason grimaced and smoothly adjusted his trajectory to lean against a doorframe instead as though that had been the plan the entire time.

“Smooth,” Marinette laughed.

“I’m always smooth. I’m nothing but,” Jason retorted.

Tim rolled his eyes. “Smooth brained, maybe.”

“Fuck you,” Jason threw back, like an adult.

“Okay, I think I’m done here,” Tim responded shaking his head and inadvertently dislodging even more dust. “I’m going to go take a shower. You staying for dinner Adrien?”

“No, thanks though. I have papers I need to get graded tonight. I had a lot of fun. Thanks for inviting me,” he nodded to Tim and Jason.

Tim waved him off as he made his way out of the room to take a shower in his room. “You’re welcome anytime. You’re family now.”

“You’re the only family I know that spends time together by blowing things up,” Adrien laughed. Marinette gave him a pointed look. “For fun.” Adrien amended.

“Gotta keep it interesting somehow,” Jason shrugged.

“I trust you are planning on keeping it interesting by cleaning that doorframe after you’ve showered, Master Jason,” Alfred spoke up passing through the room.

Jason jumped away from the frame. “Yep. That was planned. Was absolutely going to do that.” Adrien snickered at him, not even bothering to try to hide it. “Shut it, Model Boy!” Jason narrowed his eyes at him. “Since you’re family and all, it means you can find your own damn way out,” he grumbled turning the other way to get cleaning supplies.

“I’ll walk him out,” Dick volunteered.

“No,” Adrien answered coolly. “I can find my own way out. See you later, Mari.” He gave her a small wave and smile that faded as his eyes met Dick’s.

Marinette broke out of Dick’s embrace to give Adrien a hug before walking with him to the front door. “See you, Adrien.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and a meaningful look before he left.

Dick sighed coming up behind Marinette. He swept her hair over one shoulder and rested his chin on the opposite shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. “Sorry about that,” Marinette said quietly.

Dick nudged her head affectionately with his. “Not your fault. It’s mine. I just haven’t proven myself yet. I’m working on it.” He lowered his hands to run them over her bump. “How did the twins like the explosions?”

Marinette giggled and placed her hands over his while her head rested against his neck. “They liked it. There was a bit of shuffling around after each one.”

“Each one?” Dick raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, I couldn’t just let Jason have all the fun.” Dick shook his head and laughed into her neck. “But, I didn’t do the grenade launcher,” she defended herself. “Adrien did though.”

“Was that safe for the babies?” He asked hesitantly. He knew Jason and Tim knew how to act around explosives, and he was sure they would keep an eye out for Marinette, but he also knew Jason could get carried away and might not realize how dangerous it was for a pregnant body.

Marinette nudged his head with hers, bringing his attention back to her. “It was safe. If anything Jason was overcautious. The explosions were always really far away and he made sure it was just dirt. He didn’t even want plants in the dirt in case they became projectiles that somehow went through the concrete walls we were hiding behind. Wouldn’t let me use anything with any kind of a kickback either.” She looked away and got a sweet smile as she remembered the day. “He was much less cautious with Adrien, just kind of let him do whatever, as long as it wasn’t pointed toward me. He hasn’t gotten to destroy anything for fun in a while, so this was nice for him. Get that destructive energy out, you know.”

“Oh God, what have I done by introducing you guys to Jason and Tim. You two are like chaos embodied and mixed with Jason and Tim...”

Marinette coughed a few times. She leaned away from him to study him for any hidden meanings in his comment. Satisfied there were none, she pulled him toward his room and a warm shower. “Do you think we can wash my clothes quickly?”

“I’m sure we can figure something out,” he smirked at her. “I think the most important thing right now is to get you out of these dirty clothes before you get sick.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Marinette tried to look unamused but failed spectacularly.

“I don’t think we should risk it.” He gave her a faux concerned look. “And look at that, now I’m dirty too. I better get out of mine too.” He gave her a frown and made a show of thinking things through. “But then we’ll both be naked… however will we keep warm?”

“Blankets?” Marinette suggested innocently.

“All dirty. Every single one of them in the entire manor. And the clothes. All the clothes are dirty too.” He gave her an exaggeratedly innocent shrug. “We’ll have to come up with something else.”

Marinette laughed and turned in his arms to face him better, trying to angle her bulging belly so she could still cuddle into him. “Good thing I’m an extremely creative person.”

Dick hummed in agreement, pulling her closer to kiss her. “God! You have a room here, you know! And if you didn’t want to use your room, there’s like three hundred others you could use,” Jason groaned at them. 

Dick and Marinette laughed. Dick traced her face and pulled her toward the door, “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” Marinette smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his arm as they walked.

“Just don’t use my room!” Jason yelled after them.

<><><><><>

“Damn. There’s a problem in Bwunda. I’ll probably have to be there for a day, maybe two. Do you want me to drop you off at home on my way to the office?” Dick asked Marinette as he sat back down next to her at the manor’s dinner table to finish the meal with his family.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll just stay at the old apartment tonight. Make sure Adrien remembers to eat dinner,” Marinette gave him a weak smile.

“You’re spending more time at your old apartment than ours.” ‘With someone who actively dislikes me’ went unsaid as did the implication that it seemed like she no longer liked being in the apartment, their apartment, their home. But the implication was understood by everyone there.

Marinette looked around at the family. “Maybe we can talk about this later.”

“You’re welcome to stay here tonight, Marinette,” Bruce offered kindly.

Marinette gave him an awkward smile. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel comfortable with them, it was more that there was too much space at the manor. There was too much distance between the people staying there. She could easily wander for half an hour and not see anyone, without trying to avoid people. She really didn’t’ want that kind of space right now. “Thanks, I think I’d be more comfortable in my old bed, you know?

“Yeah, I do. I’ll give you a ride when you’re ready,” Jason offered.

“Thank you Jason.” Marinette gave him a relieved smile, grateful for the easy acceptance of her preference. “Dick, you can stop by the apartment and feed Kismet before you leave, right? You’ll have to stop and pack anyway.”

“Yeah,” Dick nodded absentmindedly. She hadn’t been staying at the apartment a lot lately. It was like she didn’t consider it home anymore. “Are you not comfortable there?” he finally asked, the thought just now occurring to him.

“She probably doesn’t want to be alone for a long time after passing out last week, Dickhead,” Jason chastised him around the bite of potatoes he just took.

“After what?” Dick exclaimed turning quickly to Marinette with a worried and hurt look.

“I didn’t pass out,” she assured him quickly, placing placating hands on his arm. “I just got lightheaded. I told you about it a few days ago,” Marinette reminded him quietly, again looking around at their audience.

“No, no you didn’t. I’d remember that.” Dick said accusatorily, his voice becoming sharp and hard. There was a problem that could have hurt the twins and she didn’t tell him. She was slowly cutting him out of their lives. Nothing major, just little things like fake smiles, staying at Adrien’s place more often, not telling him things about the babies. He knew they were having a few issues since he told her he loved her, but he didn’t think she would cut him out from the twins too. It hurt to know she could do that, but it hurt more to know she would.

Marinette’s eyes shot to the other people at the table quickly. She blinked quickly a few times, taking in a few breaths and shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “You were working on your computer. Maybe I spoke too lightly. I should have spoken louder. Sorry.”

“Mari…” Dick started.

“That was a delicious dinner, as always Alfred,” Bruce announced loudly, interrupting whatever Dick was about to say. Marinette was clearly not comfortable with the conversation in front of the others, understandably. Dick seemed too caught up in the conversation to recognize the signs and back down and wait until they were alone.

“You’ve had a long day, did you want to go now?” Jason offered. His voice had a dangerous edge to it, but judging by the glare he was leveling at Dick, the hostility was aimed at Dick, not Marinette.

“Um…” she looked back and forth between Dick and Jason before deciding to take the out Jason was offering her. Dick was upset and not thinking clearly. He needed time to calm down and she wasn’t going to be able to offer him that unless she took Jason up on his offer. “Yeah. That might be a good idea. I’ll just grab my stuff and go to the bathroom quickly before we leave.”

“I think Alfred has your clothes in the dryer. I can take you to them,” Bruce offered getting up at the same time. Bruce knew leaving the boys alone in the room when Dick’s temper was rising and Jason was mad, was likely a bad idea, but Dick needed a few moments away from Marinette to calm down and Bruce wanted to offer indirect reassurance that the family wasn’t upset with Marinette even if she and Dick were going through something.

As soon as Marinette and Bruce left Dick rounded on Jason and grabbed him by the collar. “What are you doing?” he hissed at him. “Why are you suddenly so attentive to Marinette’s every whim?”

Jason roughly shoved Dick away. “Relax, Golden Boy. I’m not trying to steal your baby mama. You’re doing a bang up job of losing her all on your own without any help from me.”

“You’re checking on her constantly, taking her out, hanging out with her alone at the apartment, taking her to blow things up, real safe for the babies by the way, interjecting yourself between us when we’re talking,” he seethed. He didn’t know what Jason’s game was but he did not appreciate it. He and Marinette were having a few small issues, because they were in a relationship and relationships had issues sometimes. He didn’t need Jason stepping in to make them into major problems.

“Okay, first, that wasn’t talking that was the beginning of an argument. An argument you were going to lose, _by the way_. Second, I took her shooting. She wanted to see what the other weapons could do. I wasn’t going to say no. She deserves to blow up a few things considering all the stress she’s under and she isn’t supposed to have any stress according to the doctor, so I thought it would help. And I made absolutely sure it was safe. Third, I’m just trying to help Pixie Pop and your babies. She wants to be somewhere she feels safe and with someone she knows won't _abandon_ her.” He growled the last sentence. “Someone who will notice if she passes out _again_. Right now that's Adrien, not you. You need to fix that or you're going to lose her. Or maybe that was the point. Then it's not your fault when she walks away, it's the job, not you. But you'll be wrong. It will be your fault.”

“What the Hell is wrong with you? Why would I want that?” Dick yelled at him. How dare he imply Dick wasn’t utterly devoted to Marinette and the twins? Every waking moment was spent thinking about them.

“You tell me, Golden Boy. Or better yet tell Marinette. She deserves to hear it,” Jason barked back, moving into Dick’s space to tower over him.

“I don’t. Everything I do is for them. I’m just wondering why everyone seems to know about this pregnancy than me.” Dick pushed him back.

“Because we pay attention, Dickhead. Because we’re here. We’re not running all over the world, without Mari.”

“I pay attention,” Dick growled.

Jason scoffed at him. “Clearly not well.”

“She didn’t tell me about passing out. I still don’t know about it.” Dick threw his hands up in exasperation. Everyone kept mentioning it but nobody was telling him about it.

“Not a lot of details for you to have forgotten. Happened while you were gone. Anemia, common in twin pregnancies. She’s taking iron supplements now. Tim was there. You weren’t.” Jason stuck and accusatory finger in Dick’s chest.

Dick’s glare snapped over to Tim. “And you never said anything?” He yelled, pushing Jason’s finger away.

“She already had,” Tim shrugged refusing to let his anger rise like Dick and Jason’s had. His face was solidly set, but he was keeping it non-confrontational. Dick and Jason were half a step away from a full blown fight and that was _not_ what Marinette needed right now, or Alfred.

“No, she didn’t,” Dick repeated. Why did everyone keep saying she told him? She didn’t tell him. He would remember if she told him. This was something that could hurt the twins. He wouldn’t just forget that. Suddenly a thought froze him in his tracks. “Did she tell you she did?”

“No. I heard her tell you,” Tim said firmly.

Dick stared at him. There was no way. There was no way he forgot that. “What?”

“Marinette and I were at your apartment working on some details for the show when you came home from a mission. You guys kissed and flirted. Disgusting to watch. You asked what you missed. She told you a few things. You pulled out your laptop. She told you about the anemia. That she got faint, light headed. She told you she went to the doctor and had to start taking more iron or she could pass out. You said something like ‘we wouldn’t want that.’ She didn’t tell you about passing out because she didn’t. That was Jason being dramatic.”

Dick ran the words through his head. That sounded vaguely familiar, but he still didn’t remember that conversation. He should remember that conversation shouldn’t he? She had almost passed out. She had been sick enough that she almost passed out and he didn’t know. If he’d been in Gotham, he would have known. She would have called him to take her to the doctor. And he had accused her of lying and cutting him out. Thankfully, he hadn’t said it out loud, God that would have been terrible, but even that he had thought them…

What was wrong with him? Actually he knew what it was. He was feeling disconnected from the pregnancy and it was causing anxiety. But that wasn’t Marinette’s fault. He knew that. He _knew_ it was him and his missions with the Titans, but he couldn’t not go on the missions. The disconnect was his fault and the damn Court of Owls.

“It was still pretty fucking bad,” Jason grumbled. “And dangerous.”

Dick opened his mouth to respond, but immediately shut it when Marinette came back into the room. She looked between the three of them with a calculating glance as if trying to gauge the feel of the room and figure out what they were talking about. After a few tense moments, she turned to Dick with a painted on smile. “Goodnight, Bluebird. Have a good trip. Please be safe. Please no more injuries.” Her expression morphed to a concerned frown before she rose up on her toes to give him a quick peck on the lips. She turned to Jason with another fake smile. “Ready?”

Jason nodded and they both started to leave. Dick grabbed her hand before she could get too far away. She looked up into his eyes with a confused furrow in her brow. He gave her a small smile. “Give us a minute, please, guys.”

Tim nodded and headed toward the door, but Jason looked over to Marinette for her approval. Marinette nodded to him with a weak smile. Jason looked back and forth between the two before nodding back and leaving.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you when you told me about the anemia. Not because you didn’t say it loudly enough,” he added quickly, seeing her mouth begin to open to take the blame herself, again, “because I was focused on something less important than you.”

“It’s okay.” She had a thin smile on her face, but wasn’t looking at him. 

He’d seen enough fights between couples to see the body language. She was trying not to escalate the situation. She thought he was still angry and not listening. He let out a long, deep sigh. She should never feel that way about him. “It’s not,” he assured her. “I should have been listening to you and I wasn’t. I’m sorry.”

Marinette finally looked up to meet his eyes. Her eyes were glassy. “I just… is it always going to be like this?”

Her voice had a hopeless, lost quality that broke his heart. He pulled her into a tight hug. He stayed that way for a few minutes, holding onto her, breathing in her scent, feeling her warmth, and listening to her heartbeat even out. He pulled away just enough to rest his forehead on hers and look her in her eyes. “No. I swear. The timing is terrible. You’re focused on the show and your store. I’m focused on this project for work on top of the regular, consistent obligations for work. But this project should be over soon and once it’s over, I won’t be as much of an asshole. I know I’m screwing everything up…”

“You’re not,” she assured him, cupping his face.

He gave her a wry smile. “I am. I’m overwhelmed and scattered and scared for you and the babies, and I’m letting that fear dictate my behavior. I love you, Marinette. I love this family we are building. And as soon as this project is over, I am going to be so attentive you’re going to get sick of me… or I can give you space if that’s what you want.”

“I don’t think it’s possible for me to get sick of you. I can’t wait until the project is over.” Her smile was watery, but stronger, more assured in him and their relationship. “I love you, Dick. I love every moment I get with you. Please be careful out there. Please don’t get hurt again.”

“I’ll do what I can,” he promised her. He nuzzled into her hair as he held her close until they both had to leave.


	21. Missed Opportunities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Marinette both have to cancel plans because of other obligations.

“You’re not going to be able to make it? I put it on the calendar and everything. Physical and digital,” Marinette pouted.

“I know,” Dick groaned in frustration with himself. “But I’m telling you in advance this time. I can’t make it. I’ll watch videos. I’ll give you extra back massages. I’ll hire a personal instructor. I’m sorry.”

“Dick… we rescheduled this twice so you could make it.” Marinette knew her voice was getting exasperated and angry, but she couldn’t help it. This kept happening. He kept missing everything. At this rate, he was going to miss the birth as well.

“I know but this is… This is really important, Mari,” he begged her to understand. This could be the missing piece they needed. He had to go.

“And this,” she indicated her belly, “isn’t?” She was giving him a hard, challenging look.

“That isn’t… I did _not_ say that,” he answered indignantly.

“No, I know. That wasn’t fair,” she conceded quickly. It wasn’t Dick’s fault he was going to be gone and he was getting better. He was letting her know in advance he wasn’t going to make the birthing class. She collapsed against the counter, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

Dick let out a long pained sigh. “I know this is frustrating. I’m frustrated and upset. I can’t control the timing for this, for any of this. And it’s all happening at the same time and it’s all converging and I can’t control any of it.” Dick’s voice got increasingly aggravated as he spoke and his gestures wilder. He hated the timing of all of this, but he needed to be there. They had finally been able to track a talon and he needed to trade off with Wally to keep up the tail. He was the leader. It was his family he was defending. He had to go.

Marinette sighed and squared her shoulders. This was just as trying on him as it was on her and she desperately wanted him not to suffer because of things he couldn’t control. She cupped his face to bring his focus back to her. “Yeah, it sucks and I hate it. But we just need to remember we love each other, right? We love each other and we _want_ to be together.” she gave him a long, luxuriant kiss. “The universe is messing with us. We aren’t going to let it win.”

Dick observed the determined, loving look in her eyes. Her confidence grounded him. Things were bad now, but they would get better. He would stop this plot and then things would be better. He rested his hands over hers and smiled. “We’re going to take on the universe huh?”

Marinette nodded, eyes shining with mirth, “And win. That part’s important.”

Dick chuckled indulgently. “Of course. And win. Together.”

“Together,” Marinette nodded. “As long as we work together and communicate and we’re honest with each other, there’s no way the universe can bring us down.”

It took almost the entirety of Dick’s over a decade of training to hide the wince that resulted from the ‘honest’ comment. It was like her comment was designed to cut even though he _knew_ it wasn’t. It still hit hard. As soon as this was over he could come clean. He would be honest. And there wouldn’t be any more secrets between them. They just needed to hold out for a few more weeks… or months… God, he hoped it wasn’t longer than that. Instead, he smiled and nudged her nose with his. “I love you.”

Her responding smile was absolutely brilliant. “I love you too, Bluebird.”

<><><><><>

“I’m so sorry I’m going to miss it.” The remorse in Marinette’s voice was clear even over the speaker. She was still in the office working on a few last minute issues with Lucius on issues with the fabric.

“It’s okay, Marinette. I understand,” Dick calmly assured her.

“Yeah, we get it, Pixie Pop. Your show is coming up really… long time from now,” Jason teased, a mischievous glint in his eyes, reveling in the chaos he was unleashing.

“It isn’t long. It’s short. Really short,” Marinette ranted, the words spilling out quickly. “Only a few weeks. Can you believe it’s just a few weeks away? I should have everything done and be working on details now. Rachel, do not emulate this. I expect you to be better than me.”

Lucius chuckled. “Every inventor and creator I know does this. This is always what it is like right before a debut. You’re doing fine.”

“I’ve seen what you have so far, it looks amazing already,” Stephanie assured her. And it did. She was completely blown away with what Marinette had done.

“No kidding. You made me willing to wear designer clothes,” Duke agreed.

“Do you need anything Marinette? Do you need me to bring over something to eat or drink? Did you take your vitamins today?” Dick fussed. He knew how she was when she was working and it was already dinner time. If he knew her, and he did, then she didn’t even realize how late it was yet.

“Thank you, Dick. I’m fine. You guys just enjoy your night together. And yes I did,” she assured him. Despite not being able to see her, Dick knew she had a smile on her face.

“Okay, I’ll let you get back to work, but I’ll see you at home tonight, right? You’re not going to spend all night there working on it?” Dick asked pointedly.

“Don’t worry Mr. Grayson. I’ll make sure she doesn’t work herself too hard. I’ve already ordered food in for us and a company car to take Rachel home after dinner and another for Marinette at 9, so she has to leave by then,” Lucius assured him with a chuckle.

“You two do realize I’m not a child, right?” Marinette snapped.

“Of course. You’re an adult. An extremely self-sacrificing, prone to self-destruction adult. You’ll fit right into the Wayne family whenever Mr. Grayson finally wakes up.” They could hear Lucius’ smirk through the phone as well as Rachel’s giggle and Marinette’s squeak.

“Rachel!” she exclaimed a few octaves higher than normal. “Do not encourage him!”

“Absolutely encourage him,” Stephanie called out loudly.

“Rachel, you’re supposed to be on my side.” They could tell she was trying to be offended but couldn’t quite pull it off. “You know what? Don’t you have homework to do? You should be doing your homework.”

“I already got my homework done before I came here and the essay that’s due Monday,” Rachel answered easily.

“Oh, well that’s… very well organized. Good job, Rachel,” Marinette admitted grudgingly.

“Well, somebody here should be,” Lucius teased.

“And you! You know what, you don’t need to be here. In fact, you’re not welcome here anymore. You can go home. Call a car for yourself,” Marinette growled playfully.

“Might I remind you, this is my office,” Lucius responded, completely nonplussed by her comment.

“You might, but it won’t change my previous statement.” Lucius’ laughter rang clear through the phone, a clear indication that Marinette had punctuated her retort by sticking her tongue out at him.

“Lucius, stop flirting with my girlfriend,” Dick implored with a smile.

“Mr. Grayson, if I wanted to flirt with your girlfriend, she would no longer be your girlfriend,” Lucius responded smoothly.

“Oooooooh, damn,” Duke laughed. “So that’s what total destruction looks like.”

“Lucius,” Marinette admonished him, “don’t say true things like that to him. One of us being a nervous wreck with a tendency to spiral into anxiety induced death spirals and nightmares is enough.”

“You okay, fam?” Tim asked cautiously. He looked over to Dick to see how much of what she had said should be taken seriously and judging by the frown on his face, all of it except the Lucius part.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Marinette answered in an overly confident, chipper voice. They could just picture the toothy, too wide grin on her face and twitching eye. “Just another few weeks and it will all be over,” she continued. “One way or another,” she added quietly. 

“I know you’re dreading the end of our association when you’re sought out by every major name in the business, but I think your future husband is more than happy to have you out of my influence,” Lucius teased. “Until he realizes there’s another year on the contract.”

“Yeah, okay. On that note, I’m going to let you get back to work so Marinette can get home and in bed at a reasonable time. Lucius… I’m keeping my eye on you,” he said in a stern voice that anyone else might have taken as serious.

Lucius laughed. “Understood, Mr. Grayson. Have a good night.”

“Love you, Bluebird. Have fun, guys.” Marinette called out to them.

“Night Marinette!” Jason, Duke, Stephanie and Tim yelled to her.

“Love you too. Night,” Dick said before hanging up. He tapped the phone against his lips with a concerned frown. He wasn’t doing enough to lessen her stress. She was still too stressed and it wasn’t good for the babies. Maybe he could give her a massage tonight. He plastered on a smile and turned to the others. “Let’s get this movie started.”

“Is she always like that?” Duke asked after a few minutes.

“Like what?” Dick tried to give him a confused look but Duke just raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. “Yeah, lately, yeah. Stress from the show. When the show is over she should be much more relaxed. Adrien seems to think this is completely normal and expected for her.”

“Cass and I would take her out for another girl’s night if we thought it would help, but at this point, I don’t think there is anything we can do but not add to her stress,” Stephanie grimaced.

“What a thought, _not_ adding to Pixie’s stress,” Jason glared at Dick, a look that Dick didn’t miss.

Tim looked awkwardly between Dick and Jason. “So… going back to what Lucius said, you thinking about proposing to Marinette?”

Dick looked away from Jason and blinked a few times, trying to get his mind to switch tracks. “I have a ring, but not now. Not yet. We love each other, but I don’t think we’re there yet. There’s still trust issues,” Dick shrugged.

Jason scoffed and took a drink. “Have anything to do with you abandoning her regularly with no notice and sketchy ass excuses?”

Dick glared at him. “Probably,” he growled, knowing full well that was exactly what it was. All of their problems boiled down to the Titans and him focusing too much on figuring out the Court of Owl plan. All the missed appointments, all the missed life events, all the broken promises, were all because of Titan activity. 

“Have you thought about just… telling her?” Tim asked carefully.

Dick drew in a deep, frustrated breath. Of course he had. They all pushed him to tell her constantly. Bruce had even given his blessing. He could just tell her and alleviate a lot of their issues, but he refused to put that on her while she was already under so much stress and according to the doctor, it was dangerous for her to be under _any_. He couldn’t control the fashion show but he could control this. He wasn’t going to endanger the twins and Marinette just to make himself more comfortable.

She already got so worried about him from the injuries he came home with. She would get that adorable, heartbreaking concerned frown and furrowed brow every time she looked at them, and since some of them took weeks to heal, she had that expression every day, several times a day for weeks. After one particularly bad fight with Double Dare, she had nightmares for days about him getting hurt and then the babies getting caught in an attack. He wasn’t about to tell her he did that regularly and induce nightmares every night while she was pregnant.

“You know, you’re going to have a couple kids with her pretty soon. It might be important information for her,” Jason prodded.

“If Grayson doesn’t want to tell her, he has every right not to,” Damian interjected.

“Thank you, Damian,” Dick responded, silently, momentarily thankful he didn’t have the same protective streak for Marinette that the rest of the family had acquired.

“He knows her better than the rest of us and if he does not find her trustworthy, that insight should be respected,” Damian finished, returning his attention to the movie.

“What?” Dick exclaimed looking back at Damian in shock. Was that really what Damian was getting from this? Is that why he thought Dick didn’t want to tell Marinette? “That’s not… Damian that is _not_ why I haven’t…”

“She should know if she’s going to be doing this alone,” Jason interrupted. His voice was hard and accusatory, as it often was with Dick lately.

Distantly, Dick heard someone gasp and shuffle around, but he was far too focused to process it. “She won’t be doing it alone,” Dick growled back. Jason had been exceptionally hostile lately, more so than even Adrien, but the insinuation that Dick would abandon his family was going too far. “I’m going to be there for her and the babies.”

“I can’t hear the movie,” Damian warned them.

“Shut it, Imitation’s Imitation,” Jason snarled before rounding back on Dick. “Are you? When does that start? ‘Cuz you sure as Hell haven’t been so far.”

“Jason,” Stephanie tried to interject.

“I’ve had…” Dick started.

“Yeah, yeah. Vigilante business, which has always been more important than making baby appointments, more important than being there for Marinette. You need to figure out if you’re Nightwing or a father.”

“I’m both,” Dick gritted out through his teeth.

“But which is more important?” Jason argued

“Being a father, of course,” Dick yelled out.

“That’s not how it looks right now. How many appointments have you missed? How many events? You abandon her constantly for things that other people could easily handle and eventually, she’s going to figure out that you don’t actually work for WE, and what’s your plan for that? Or is that plan? Let her figure it out and walk away from you so you don’t have to be the bad guy?”

“Shouldn’t your loyalty be to Grayson? You’ve switched loyalties rather quickly. One look from a pretty woman and as expected you turn your back on your family,” Damian snarled, finally turning away from the movie. 

“What the fuck do you think she is? She’s family. She’s carrying your niece and nephew. They are our family, all three of them even if Dickhead walks away from them. They are still our family and they deserve some consideration too,” Jason yelled back.

Damian opened his mouth to respond but Cass moved next to him, shaking her head. Damian grunted, but acquiesced, letting Dick and Jason fight it out between themselves.

“What is your obsession with me leaving them? It’s not going to happen. I’m not going to abandon them!” Dick howled.

Jason shook his head and gave a bitter chuckle. His voice suddenly back to an eerily normal level. “You’re right. You always are, Golden Boy. ‘I’m not going to’ would imply a future event. You already have abandoned them.”

“Fuck you! I have not.” The lowering of Jason’s voice only made Dick’s anger surge. He was acting like he won an argument, like it was already over. It was far from over. “I’ve been doing everything in my power to protect them. Whatever the Court of Owls is planning it is going to be huge and devastating, and we now know it includes Gotham. I’ve been doing nothing but investigating them for months to stop them. I’ve fought talons, I’ve tracked down associates, fuck, I’ve gotten captured by talons and had to get saved by Garth and Donna.”

“They should have kept you,” Jason grumbled, heading to the door. “I’m going to go check on Pixie Pop. It’s getting late, someone should and naturally, that someone won’t be you.”

Dick seethed as he stared at the door Jason left through. How dare he? How dare he! He had no right to suggest not only was Dick abandoning them, but that he _wanted_ to. Abandoning her was the last thing he _wanted_ to do. He didn’t _want_ to leave in the middle of dates. He didn’t _want_ to miss the babies kicking. He didn’t _want_ to miss entire weeks of development. He didn’t _want_ to miss snuggling with Marinette. He didn’t _want_ to sleep without her. He did all of that because he was protecting her, because he loved her. He couldn’t just pass off all of his responsibilities to someone else. He was the team leader. He had to be the one to make the decisions.

“You okay?” Tim asked gently. He wanted to make sure Dick was okay, but wasn’t looking to incur his wrath. Jason had said everything that needed to be said, now Dick just needed to calm down and consider the words.

“He doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand what it means to be a leader, what it means to be a father,” Dick growled.

Tim looked away and gave a heavy sigh. He wasn’t listening. He decided he was doing the right thing and he wouldn’t listen to any other opinions. He’d dedicated himself to this course and he wouldn’t be swayed. He’d gotten better about it in the last few years, but still had miles to go. “Maybe,” he granted, turning to look Dick, his eyes hardened to steel, “but he _does_ know what it means to be _abandoned_.”


	22. With Friends Like These…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has a nightmare and Dick gets a bit more insight into her past. Marinette then finally gets to meet Dick's friends.

Sweat was rolling off of her body. Her breath was coming in short, irregular pants, only broken up occasionally by mournful whimpers. She gripped and released the sheets repeatedly as she turned over and over in bed. Her movements quickly escalated to thrashing as her whimpers became cries that were still quiet enough not to alert Dick as he worked in the living room. He was completely engrossed in cross comparing a few reports he and the other Titans had turned in, until a cup fell off of the dresser across the room from Marinette.

“Mari! Marinette! Wake up! Marinette, you need to wake up.” Dick shook her gently trying to wake her without causing any more distress than she was under already. His face was marked with deep lines from his concerned frown as he tried to wake her. She’d been having nightmares on and off for a while, but this looked like the worst one yet.

Marinette’s eyes snapped open and she shot up, gasping for breath. She whipped her head around taking in her surroundings, trying to get her bearings after her sudden reality shift. Her eyes finally focused back on her environment as she made eye contact with Dick. “Marinette, are you…”

Before he could finish his question, she had launched herself into his arms, hugging him much tighter than he had thought she was capable of. “Dick! Oh my God Dick. You’re here,” she sobbed into his chest. “You’re here. You’re safe.” Her grip got impossibly tighter around him as she sobbed harder.

Dick let her squeeze him, refusing to complain as she squeezed his injured rib, likely further bruising it. He hugged her back, rocking slightly as he ran his hands over her hair. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I’m here. We’re okay,” he repeated over and over again in a soothing voice. After a few minutes he tried to pull away slightly to wipe her tears, but she was still too tightly buried in his chest for him to see her face, so he kept repeating the comforting mantra hoping it would help.

This was _definitely_ the worst one he had seen her have. Her whole body was shaking and she was still crying fifteen minutes later. She had mentioned having nightmares before, especially during the Hawkmoth reign, and he prayed it was nothing like this. It was heartbreaking to watch her like this, especially knowing there wasn’t anything he could do to help her or fix it. He just had to sit there and watch her break down.

After a while, Marinette’s tears finally started to slow and her breath started evening out again. Her body had stopped shaking, but Dick wasn’t sure if that was because she had worn herself out or if she was calming down, or both. When he was confident she was calmer, he leaned back slightly to look at her face. Her eyes were still closed, but at least the tears had stopped. “Hey,” he started, gently wiping away the tear tracks and brushing her bangs out of her face, “you okay?”

Marinette pressed her lips together and nodded timidly, still not opening her eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked quietly, trying not to disrupt her delicate calm.

Marinette took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she finally opened her eyes. Dick gasped at the forlorn look in her eyes. “Hey, hey. It was just a nightmare.” He pulled her back in for another hug. “It wasn’t real. It was just a nightmare.” He kissed the crown of her head then her forehead then her temple. “It wasn’t real.”

Marinette opened her mouth and immediately closed it, blinking back tears. She squeezed her eyes shut and rested her head on his chest, taking a few deep breaths. She pulled away when her heartrate slowed again and looked back up at him. As he watched, her face slowly morphed to appear more hopeless. Her forehead had just a shadow of lines and her lips ticked down slightly. Her gaze shifted to over his shoulder as if looking to the distance for inspiration or permission.

Suddenly, she took a deep breath and gave a shadow of a nod, returning her attention to Dick. “It was…” she looked down and her brow furrowed further. “I…” she tried again. She took a deep breath and looked off to the side. Dick watched her patiently, letting her prepare herself and find the words she needed in her own time. While she figured out what she wanted to say he rubbed gentle circles against her back.

“It was kind of real. It was… Some akumas were worse than others,” she started slowly. Dick nodded in understanding. It was a memory. Past fights that went bad or where someone just barely survived, one inch to the left or the right, one moment slower or faster would have resulted in their death, were always the worst nightmares for him. All the what ifs, but with the added force of being rooted in reality.

“There was one… You can never tell Adrien!” she suddenly looked desperate. “He doesn’t know about this one. You can never tell him. Promise,” she demanded pulling on his shirt in desperation. Dick gave her a confused look but nodded. There were akumas that she lived through that Adrien didn’t and weren’t on the record for him to discover?

Assured of his silence, Marinette continued. “There was one that… One of the miraculous can time travel. Her entire reason for existing is to keep the miraculous from destroying the timeline, from destroying the world too badly. I mean, bad things can and do happen, that’s fine… I mean, not fine, but… you know. That doesn’t trip her sensors. But apocalyptic events… those activate her.”

Dick started to open his mouth to ask questions, but immediately shut it. She needed to talk at her own pace and he needed to give her that opportunity no matter how apprehensive he was. ‘Apocalyptic’ sounded significantly worse than he was anticipating. “So one day, she came to take me to the future.” She looked out the window for a few seconds. “Did you know miraculous wielders could get akumatized when they were transformed?” she gave a mirthless chuckle. “Because they can. They’re still human. They still have emotions. And A… And Chat had a lot. I don’t know exactly what happened but… everything was gone. There was nothing. There were no people, there were no animals, not even sea animals. Nothing but water and a destroyed moon… and Chat. All alone and white. Chat Blanc,” she whispered in a despondent voice.

“But, why you? Why would the miraculous person get you?” Dick asked softly, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. Marinette wasn’t a hero. She shouldn’t have been involved in any of that. She _shouldn’t_ have had to see that, to experience it. She was a civilian! She should have been put in a situation that would cause her nightmares years later.

“She needed the people Chat loved the most and loved him the most. She needed Ladybug and me.” Marinette shrugged. “She needed us to get through to him. Hawkmoth no longer controlled him, because he had died along with everyone else… including me… but, the way Hawkmoth created akumas, they mess with the victim’s head, even without his control. They can no longer think straight. They can’t reason. They don’t remember…” her eyes got distant again. “He tried to kill me. He almost did. A few times. I… He… I trusted him more than anyone else in my life at that time.”

Dick pulled her into another hug. That he understood. Someone you loved and trusted being under mind control and trying to hurt you? Yeah, he’d lived through that too. The memory never really leaves you. The knowledge that they could do that never goes away, not fully. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered into her hair.

“That was the dream. I was back there, surrounded by nothing but water… water and him… but this time it wasn’t me he wanted to kill, it was you. And I couldn’t protect you. I couldn’t reach him in time to save him this time. I couldn’t save you. I had to watch you…” she started crying again. She buried her head in his chest again as she sobbed. 

Not for the first time Dick wished he had been there when they took down Gabriel Agreste, or that he tried to escape and the Titans got to be the ones to capture him. The damage he had done to Marinette, the pain and suffering he had caused her was immeasurable, but Dick would gladly take the opportunity to pay it back.

After she had cried herself out and had calmed down, she pulled away and looked at the time. “Oh, we’re going to be late.”

Dick shook his head, his brow furrowed. “You’re kidding. We don’t have to go, Marinette. We can just do this another night. That nightmare took a lot out of you.”

“No,” she exclaimed loudly. “I haven’t met all your friends yet. I really want to meet them and they’re never in town. I want to go.”

“My friends are planning on being in town for a little while. We’ll have other opportunities,” he assured her.

She gave him a determined look. “I don’t want to let the fear control my life. And with the fashion show coming up, I probably won’t have a lot of time. Let me just take a shower and I’ll get ready. I really want to go.”

Dick let out a resigned sigh. “Do you want to take a bath instead? We can be late, they’ll understand, and the bath might help you relax. Maybe I can even join you.”

Marinette gave him a small giggle. “I don’t think there’s enough room for me and anyone else in the bath or shower. I’m massive.” She looked up at him with an appreciative smile. “But thank you.”

“You’re not massive. You’re tiny considering you’re three people in one,” Dick smirked at her. Marinette groaned and pushed him away as she tried to get up before deflating and asking him to help her get up off the bed. “How about instead… can we lay down together for a few minutes?” he asked slowly. “I know you don’t want to be late, but I’d really like a few minutes to just lay down with you.” Marinette gave him an understanding smile and nodded, positioning herself to lay in Dick’s arms, her head resting on his shoulder and his arms wrapped protectively around her.

<><><><><>

Dick was infinitely grateful to the other Titans for being willing to move their base of operations to Gotham while they tracked down the final bits of information they needed to end the Court’s plan and to Bruce for providing the series of flats for the five of them to stay indefinitely. On the bright side, that meant his friends finally got to meet Marinette, which Donna and Lilith had been asking about since he first mentioned her, and Marinette got to meet them, which he knew she’d been craving just as long.

The downside was this was where they did all their planning. This was essentially their base of operations and they were letting her in when she didn’t know about their alter egos and were under strict instructions from Dick not to tell her. Not unexpectedly, that resulted in a bit of tension in his friends. Lilith was absolutely brilliant at covering it up, but Wally, Garth, and Roy were tenser than guitar strings. Dick had to send more than one glare to Wally to get him to stop tapping his feet or fingers at superhuman speeds and at Roy and Garth to get them to stop unintentionally glaring.

“Marinette!” Lilith welcomed her as soon as the door opened. “It is so nice to meet you! Dick talks about you all the time. I’m so glad we were finally able to find time to visit. How are you feeling?” She ushered her into the room with an excited smile and an arm around her shoulders.

“You must be Lilith,” Marinette smiled at her. “Dick talks about you guys all the time, too. It is really nice to meet you.”

Wally and Garth stood up to welcome her while Roy watched her from his seat. “Yep, that’s me. That,” she pointed to the redhead standing up, “is Wally. That,” she pointed to the man next to him with black hair, “is Garth. And the lazy brute sitting down is Roy.”

“Where’s Donna?” Dick asked popping a chip in his mouth and making his way to Marinette’s side.

“She wanted to finish up a few things,” Garth answered in a voice that Marinette was positive was intended to mean something to the rest of the people there. 

Marinette coughed suddenly when she heard Plagg making noises in her purse. She dropped her arms suddenly, “accidentally” hitting her purse with a sharp impact. She looked back to the group with an overly wide smile. “So, Dick didn’t tell me what brought you guys to town,” she prompted.

The group looked back and forth between each other a few times before trying to subtly look at Dick for an answer. Marinette fought to keep the smile on her face and keep from laughing at the awkwardness. There was something going on that they didn’t want her to know about. That wasn’t so bad, her friends would do the same, they would just be better at covering it up, they _had_ been better at covering it up in front of Dick. But Dick’s friends were bad at it and they knew they were bad at it so it was creating a tense atmosphere, making everything worse. She didn’t know what they were keeping secret, but she really, really hoped it wasn’t anything important because none of these people would be good spies.

Dick gave her a wide smile. “They said it was a break from school so they’re taking their break here instead of Cancun.”

Marinette was greatly tempted to ask them about what school they went to and what they studied, just to see how they would react. Plagg hadn’t gotten too much amusement lately and she was sure he would appreciate it, but she held back. These were Dick’s friends and they, and he, were allowed to have secrets. She also didn’t want to start off their friendship by being mean just to amuse herself. So instead she plastered on a smile and offered, “That’s so nice, giving up the beach to come to Gotham. It’s almost never sunny here.”

Roy’s eyes narrowed at her as if calculating something, but Lilith waved her off. “Oh, we can go to the beach anytime, but we were dying to meet you.”

Talk seemed to come easier after that, though the underlying sense of tension never seemed to go away. The more she tried to ignore the awkwardness and move past it, the more Roy seemed to glower as though not appreciating the dishonesty of it. The rest of the group were more than willing to pretend and move forward until it wasn’t so awkward anymore and it seemed like it worked for Lilith and Wally, who were now enthusiastically conversing with Marinette about gaming and fashion and pastries, Marinette had promised to bake a few different treats for him to try.

“Dick! I have something!” A black haired woman burst into the room. She glanced over and noticed Marinette as she rushed in. Her expression immediately morphed into a strained smile. “You must be Marinette! It’s so nice to meet you. Dick has said so many sweet, lovesick things about you. I’m so sorry I’m late. I was working on… something.” She gave Dick a significant look and an excited smile. “I’m so sorry to hit and run, but can I borrow your boyfriend for just a few minutes just over here?”

That wasn’t at all suspicious. Seriously, at this point, she was beginning to suspect a cult going on. Marinette gave her a smile. “Not at all. I’ve been dying to take a look at the view from up here anyway.” She motioned toward the balcony and the view beyond it, which was a fairly good view of Gotham’s lights from the top floor of the centrally located apartment building.

“Okay. I won’t be long,” Dick assured her as he helped her get up with a kiss to the temple. He pulled Roy aside to whisper in his ear. He was trying to convince him of something based on Dick’s severe gestures.

Marinette smiled at him and moved out to the balcony. She took a deep breath of the not quite crisp air, but certainly clearer than the air in that room. She just needed a few seconds to recollect herself before she went back into the room. She could do this. These were Dick’s friends. They mattered to him so she needed to make more of an effort. They mattered to him so therefore they mattered to her as well. She would just focus on Lilith and Wally and hopefully the others would eventually warm up to her as well, although she got the impression Garth always acted like that.

“Beautiful from up here, isn’t it?” Roy asked as he joined her on the balcony. He closed the door behind him before turning back to look at the city. “It almost looks peaceful, but then again beautiful things can be deceptive.”

Marinette blinked at him a few times trying to figure out the meaning behind his words. Did he mean Dick was being deceptive? Was it a general comment on beautiful people? Did he go through a breakup recently? Oh, her line was deceptively beautiful. Had he seen pictures of it? Marinette shook her head and turned back to the night scene. She wasn’t going to figure it out without talking more. “It is. I guess I’ve been lucky. The city has been pretty peaceful for me so far. In fact, I’ve had an amazing time here, but I’m pretty sure that has more to do with Dick than the city.”

Roy leaned against the balcony railing and looked over to her with a seductive smile. “It probably has more to do with the fact that you’re gorgeous.”

Marinette froze. What? Was he… She immediately shook her head. No, he was trying to be nice. She looked like a beached whale and he was trying to make her feel better about herself, just in the most incredibly awkward way possible. It was just her hormones and stress and the effects of the tension from the meeting making her see things that aren’t there. He was like Kim, good heart but dumb and didn’t understand socially acceptable boundaries. “Thank you,” she smiled kindly at him. Kim was able to communicate better when he was calmer, so if she could get Roy to relax, they could have a more casual, less awkward conversation. “You are too.”

Roy chuckled deeply. “Thank you. You know, I was with him the first night he met you. I think Dick got lucky he found you first. I wish I would have gotten to you before him.”

Marinette froze again. Well, she didn’t imagine that. Bastard was hitting on his friend’s pregnant girlfriend. “Um…” What the fuck did she say to that?

Roy misinterpreted her silence and moved closer to her so he was within arm’s length of her. “I don’t know if Dick told you, but I’m actually a lot richer than he is. I could keep you in a lot more comfort, if you were interested.”

Marinette continued to stare at him dumbfounded. He reached up to touch her cheek, finally sparking movement in Marinette. Her eyes narrowed and she slapped Roy as hard as she could. Hard enough to leave a dark red mark on his cheek in a very clear shape of a handprint. “What is wrong with you? Even if I didn’t love Dick, I wouldn’t go for someone like you, you disgusting, wretched excuse for a human being.”

She stormed back into the room and looked around for Dick. He and Donna were no longer in the corner they had been in. In fact, she didn’t see them anywhere in the room. “Hey Lilith?”

Lilith looked up from the laptop she, Wally, and Garth were looking at, only now noticing she was back in the room. “Hey, done with the view? I don’t blame you. It gets kind of boring after a bit.”

Marinette gave her a strained smile. “Yeah… do you know where Dick is?”

Lilith paled slightly, her eyes flicked over to the boys. “Um… I think he and Donna went to her apartment to go over… that thing.” Marinette took a deep breath. And he left. He left her there. “Hey, are you okay?” Lilith asked, concern lacing her voice. She moved over to Marinette to get a closer look at her.

“Yeah, yeah, fine. Um. I’ll text him. I had something come up and I need to leave. It was really nice meeting you guys though. Have a great night. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.” She rushed out of the room before anybody could ask any questions. As soon as the door closed behind her, she ran to the elevator. Her breath was ragged and tears were streaming down her cheeks. What the hell just happened? What the hell was all that? And then Dick was just gone. Did Dick know how terrible his friend was?

She stumbled out of the elevator and left the complex in a daze. She needed to go home. She needed to lay down. She needed to think and she needed to lay her head on Dick’s chest. She was a few blocks away before she remembered to text him. She sent a quick text to him saying she suddenly felt lightheaded and was grabbing a taxi to head home. She got a text back almost immediately asking if she was sure she was okay. She smiled at her phone and shot back a text confirming she really was fine. 

Before she could put her phone back in her purse it dinged again with a message from Dick. He said he was going to stay with his friends and might be there all night. Marinette stared at her phone. He wasn’t coming home tonight. He was going to stay with them. She wasn’t going to be able to comfort herself with his heartbeat. She was going to have to deal with it on her own. She could go to Adrien, but she didn’t want Adrien getting even angrier at Dick and she couldn’t go to Dick’s brothers when she was having problems with Dick. 

She started gasping for breath again. Luckily or unluckily, depending on how you saw it, there weren’t many people on the street so there wasn’t anyone to judge her breakdown. Dick was staying with those horrible people. He had talked with Roy before he came out to hit on Marinette. Was it a test? Was Dick testing her? Did he really not trust her after all this time? She gripped her head. There was too much. It was too much coming at her all at the same time.

She startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She lunged to punch the person’s exposed side and swept her leg under him to knock him down so she could run away… well waddle away. She couldn’t really run right now. “Fuck Pi… lady. I was just checking on you.”

Marinette paused just long enough to look back at who she knocked down, which she knew was stupid. This was Gotham. Any weakness like she was showing got punished severely. Once she finally registered the red mask and who she had knocked down, she took a deep breath and walked back to him. “Sorry. You caught me off guard and I just reacted.”

“Don’t apologize. Those were really good moves, especially considering how much of you is baby right now,” Red Hood motioned to her stomach. “I shouldn’t have snuck up on you. I just wanted to check on you. You look like you were a bit distressed. You okay?”

Marinette let out a sharp laugh. “Yeah awesome. My boyfriend’s friend just hit on me, suggested that the only thing I would be interested in is money so I should leave my boyfriend for him. And when I got back to the party, my boyfriend was gone and he’s apparently going to stay with that asshole all night. I’m awesome. Everything is awesome. Life is just awesome.”

“Yeah… that’s a few too many awesomes to be real and way too many awesomes for that fucked up situation. Want me to go kick someone’s ass? Maybe your boyfriend?” He offered. 

The voice modulator prevented her from being able to pick up on how serious he was in his offer, but with Red Hood’s reputation for violence, she didn’t want to take the chance. “No! He doesn’t know. I wanted to tell him in person.” She chewed her lower lip. Her mind finished the sentence with ‘or maybe he knew,’ but she wasn’t going to unload all _that_ on this poor vigilante who was just trying to help.

“Okay, how about I get you home instead then? How would you feel about riding in the Batmobile?” he offered with a quirk to his head.

“I would love it, but I don’t think I’ll fit right now. Hit me up after the babies are born,” she gave him a wry smile. “Maybe my boyfriend and I can both do it.”

“Fuck him. He left you, this is his punishment.”

“He didn’t leave me,” Marinette objected.

“Right,” he answered, seemingly unconvinced. “I’ll have Oracle call a reliable cab then and wait until you get in.” He touched his ear as he said it, giving Marinette the impression that it was already done.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you have more important things to do. More important people to help.”

“I have nothing more important than this,” he assured her. “I’m done for the day anyway. I just have an archer to pummel and a sister-in-law to check on.”

“You have a sister-in-law? Actually don’t answer that. Secret identities and all,” she waved him off suddenly. “Thank you for this.”

He shrugged. “It’s my job.”

“You’re really good at it,” she smiled at him. He was stopping for no reason, calming down a hysterical, crying, pregnant mess when there was no reason for him to. It showed a big heart.

Red Hood faced her silently for a few seconds. She felt like he might be staring at her but it was hard to tell under the mask. She started to think she said something wrong when he finally spoke up again. “I… not a lot of people say that to me and it means a lot coming from you. Thank you.” He gave her a hug only pulling away when her cab pulled up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: pregnancy nightmares can be a bitch even when there isn’t something to give you nightmares, hormones and pregnancy brain will create one. And if you were already prone to anxiety (Marinette) you’re screwed.
> 
> Also, to explain Roy, he noticed that Marinette was acting extremely fake, because you know, everyone there was and she was trying to pretend like she didn’t notice. Having seen LOTS of people coming onto Oliver and Bruce in the past for their wealth, he was suspicious and testing Marinette. Being the brilliant, dumbass he is, he put two and two together and got 7.


	23. The Clock Ticks Life Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette drops off cookies for Dick at his office in Wayne Enterprises

Stupid hormones. That was the only thing she could think. Stupid hormones taking over her brain. Hormones and frustration and stress from the impending fashion show. Of course Dick didn’t put his friend up to that. Roy was just trying to protect his friend. An incredibly assholish way to do it, but he was trying to look out for his friend. Whatever Dick had been talking to him about, it had nothing to do what Roy did. 

Dick would never do that to her. Dick had never lied to her, never treated her like he suspected her. It was just her hormones and frustration at him being gone so often making her see things that weren’t there, which was extremely unfair of her. He was only gone because of work. He _had_ to leave. He didn’t _want_ to. He’d made that clear when he was with her.

She took a deep breath and smoothed the fabric over her baby bump. She could do this. Luckily, she hadn’t done or said anything bad. But they still needed to talk about it, to clear the air and she had to be the one to take the first step because she was the one that broke it, well Roy broke it but she needed to tell Dick about it and see his reaction. She clutched the container of chocolate cookies closer to her as she made her way into the Wayne Enterprises building and froze as soon as she made it past the front doors. 

She had entered this building so often, she knew the paths to Tim’s and Lucius’ offices better than she knew the path to her own studio. But that wasn’t her destination today. With a guilty twinge she realized she didn’t know the path she wanted to take. She’d never been there before. She let out a reproachful sigh and made her way to the reception desk. “Hey, Teri,” she gave the front guard a smile.

Teri returned it with a bright smile, lighting up at seeing her. “Hey, Miss. Dupain-Cheng. How are you doing today? Anything I can help you with?”

“Yeah. I… um… can you tell me how to get to Dick’s office?” She kept her voice even, keeping the embarrassment out of it. How could she have never visited his office? They’d been together for six months now.

Teri gave her a confused look. “I’m sorry?”

“Dick Grayson. I wanted to surprise him but I realized I’ve… I’ve forgotten how to get there,” she elaborated.

Instead of clearing up, Teri’s confused look got deeper. “Mr. Grayson doesn’t work here, Miss. Dupain-Cheng. He never has. Only Mr. Wayne and Mr. Drake work here from the family.”

Marinette stared at her blank faced. That wasn’t right. That… No, no, no. He said… he told her… She suddenly dropped the container of cookies and gasped for breath, having forgotten to breathe for the past few seconds. She plastered on a fake smile. “Sorry. I thought Tim set him up with something to experiment. He must have meant somewhere else. Thank you, Teri,” she rushed to get out. She grabbed the container of cookies and started heading to the exit. She paused and turned around. “Here, Teri. You work too hard. You deserve these.” She tossed the cookies on the counter and took off out of the office as quickly as she could without drawing too much attention.

Teri watched after her. Her confused expression morphed into a deep concern. She picked up the phone to call up to Mr. Drake’s office. Miss Dupain-Cheng did not look okay and she thought Mr. Drake would want to know immediately so he could check on her. “Mr. Drake’s office,” the curt voice responded.

“Hey Tam. This is Teri at the front desk. I just had a strange incident with Miss Dupain-Cheng and I thought Mr. Drake might want to know.”

Tam was silent for a moment, weighing her options. “Mr. Drake is in a meeting right now, but I will let him know you want to talk to him as soon as it is over.”

“Thank you, Tam,” Teri answered gratefully.

<><><><><>

He lied. He lied. He lied. He lied. The mantra repeated itself in her mind over and over again. He’d lied to her. Every time he said he had to leave for days at a time for work, it was a lie. Every time he was late for something because of work, it was a lie. Every time he left early because work called, it was a lie. Every time he promised to be somewhere then missed it because of work, it was a lie. His words were lies.

She had been patient and understanding with all the absences because it was for _work_. He didn’t _want_ to miss out on things, he _had_ to. He didn’t have a choice. But that was all a lie. He had a choice. He _wanted_ to leave. He _wanted_ to miss everything. What he didn’t want was to be with her.

She watched the clock as it ticked the time away. And he was late… again… after he promised he wouldn’t be anymore. His promises were lies. The time fell away and Marinette’s composure fell with it. Which of his words could she trust? Was there anything about their relationship that she could trust? Where had he been going when he left? What had he been doing that was so much more important than her and the babies? That was so important he had to lie to her about it?

She eyed the clock again doing a quick calculation. Forty-five minutes. He was forty-five minutes late with no warning, no call, no estimation of when he might get there. Again. Because why? Because she wasn’t worth the consideration? Her mind was spinning, her heart was racing, her patience and understanding were gone, and her ire was rising.

At the forty-eight minute mark the front doors slammed open and Dick rushed into the room in a whirlwind of apologies and remorse. “I’m so sorry! I’m so, so sorry. I couldn’t get away. I’m so sorry. Something came up at the last minute and I had to deal with it and then we had to reconfigure everything when… one of the men on the team ended up with a broken jaw somehow.”

“You’re late.” 

Her voice was deceptively calm. There was a coolness to it that Dick wasn’t used to hearing from her. Even when she was upset, she didn’t take that tone. He knew he deserved it, but the unexpectedness unsettled him. He braced himself for her to get angrier, because it was only going to get worse the more he spoke. But there was no way around it. They finally cracked it. Donna put together the clues last night and now they knew. They _knew_ when the Court was going to strike and where. They even knew the how. Now they just needed to compile the evidence against everyone helping them and stop it. It was almost over. They were almost done. Just this one more thing and he was free. “I know. I know. But like I said, something came up and we had to figure out details for a trip we need to go on starting tomorrow.” Dick winced.

“You’re leaving… again.” As predicted, her voice got colder even as a tone of incredulity snuck in in response to his announcement.

“I am. I hope this is the last one. I know the timing is terrible. But I have to go,” he tried to placate her. He knew it was bad, terrible really, but hopefully it was the worst of it. After this, if everything went right, after this, he could relax and focus entirely on her.

“For work…” she clarified with a sharp edge.

He gave her a curious look. She knew that was why, or thought she knew that was why. Why was she asking for clarification on that? “… Yes”

“Where is it you work again?” Her voice was dangerously innocent.

He eyed her cautiously. Where was this going? “You already know.”

“Do I?” The innocent tone in her voice was offset by the narrowed, accusatory eyes and pursed lips. Dick held his breath. She knew. She had to know. “Why don’t you remind me? Because I thought it was Wayne Enterprises. Isn’t that what you told me? You worked for Bruce at Wayne Enterprises. In security. I could have sworn that’s what you said. Isn’t that right?”

“Mari…” his voice was timid. They couldn’t have this conversation. She couldn’t find out now. Not _now_.

“Because when I went there today to talk to you to clear the air after yesterday, after your friend decided it was a good idea to test me by hitting on me, badly I might add, and see if I’d cheat on you…”

Dick’s whole body suddenly snapped up straight. “Who did what now?” he growled, Roy’s broken jaw suddenly making a lot more sense and vastly not enough. He asked Roy to stop being an asshole to her, not step it up. When he saw Roy again, it wouldn’t just be his jaw that was broken.

“I’m assuming with your permission,” she continued unperturbed.

“With my what?” he asked incredulously.

“And I went to Wayne Enterprises to apologize for getting upset by the situation, which is stupid really, because I had a right to be upset about it. They told me you don’t work there. You never have. You lied to me. All those times you left for work, you lied.” Her voice started to sound broken. Tears started welling in her eyes. She was barely keeping them in, but she refused to cry right now. Now wasn’t the time for tears, it was the time for answers. She _needed_ answers. She needed something true to hold onto because right now? Right now, she was drifting into nothingness.

“Mari…” he tried to sooth her.

“So I have to wonder, where you were all those times. Where were you going when you were abandoning me? Where were you going when you forgot about me? What were you doing that was more important?” She threw her hands out, begging him for a reason, an explanation, some comfort. She was lost. She was stumbling in the dark and she needed reassurance. She needed him to come back.

“Mari, I promise you…” he started breathlessly.

“Your promises don’t mean much right now,” she growled.

“Mari, I promise you it was important,” he tried again, his voice pleading with her. The promises comment hurt, but it was deserved, an indication of the damage he had done to their relationship.

“That’s what you said before. So explain it to me. What were you doing? Where were you going? This is your chance.” she demanded, cutting off his inner monologue.

He opened his mouth, but what was he supposed to say? He couldn’t say anything yet. “Mari, I can’t.” His eyes were imploring her to understand. He wasn’t the bad guy. He wasn’t using her. He wasn’t just blowing her off. This was _for_ her, not against her.

“No,” she answered harshly, “this is your chance right now. Explain it to me. Was it all lies?”

“No!” God, why was it all falling apart. Everything terrorizing doubt and nightmare was coming true. She knew before he could explain and now she didn’t trust him. “No. Mari, I love you.”

She shook her head like she wanted to believe it but couldn’t. “But you’re still leaving tomorrow for what a day, a week, a month?”

“A few weeks,” he admitted begrudgingly.

“During which time we won’t be able to talk at all,” she continued.

“I can’t.” That was the line he wasn’t willing to cross. If they got compromised, he refused to allow any link to Marinette, any link they could follow to find and harm her.

“And you won’t tell me why.” Her voice was accusing and angry but her eyes betrayed how hurt she was.

He opened his mouth to give a longer explanation, but immediately closed it. There was none to give, not yet. “No.”

She drew in a long, shuttering breath. He wasn’t willing to tell her. He was willing to just watch her walk away rather than just _tell_ her. Whatever it was, it was more important than her and always would be. Was that something she was willing to live with? Always being less important than God knows what? Maybe, if she was honest. She might be willing to live with that, but she wasn’t willing to let her children live with that. She couldn’t just think of herself anymore. She had to think of what was best for them. “Just go,” she croaked, her voice breaking along with her heart. “Go on your trip to wherever it is you go with whoever it is you spend time with. Go where you really want to be. Just leave, like you clearly want to anyway.”

“That’s not fair,” Dick cried. “I don’t _want_ to leave. I have to.” 

“Why?” she begged him. Tears she could no longer hold in, despite her best efforts, were starting to fall. “Why do you have to leave?”

“I’m protecting my family,” he screamed out in frustration. He winced, immediately wishing he could take it back.

“No,” she seethed. Her face switched from pleading tears to anger in an instant. Her quivering lips now taunt, glassy eyes now hard. “I spent three years getting _terrorized,_ living through _Hell_ because of that reasoning. That is the only defense Gabriel would give. It’s still the defense he gives, ‘I was protecting my family,’ like that makes everything he did okay.”

He knew that. He knew better. That phrase brought back all the attacks she’d had to go through, all the deaths she watched and experienced herself, and the perfect trauma that was Chat Blanc. It triggered massive anxiety attacks for her, or in this case, fury. “’I was protecting my family’ does _not_ absolve all sins. It does not make things okay. So, I’m going to need more than that.”

Dick opened his mouth and immediately closed it. Even if he wanted to tell _her_ he was about to go into a dangerous, potentially deadly mission, he couldn’t tell her _here_. There was nothing he could do right now, no way he could fix it. He would tell her after he got back, but he _couldn’t_ tell her right now. He couldn’t add that stress onto her. He just needed her to trust him for a little bit longer. He just needed a bit of faith. Hadn’t he earned that? Was that too much to ask? He screwed up with the lie, but hadn’t everything else proved he was worth a bit of faith? “I can’t give you more than that. Not yet. Give me a few weeks…” he begged lowly.

She groaned and pulled on her hair in frustration. “Damn it, Dick! Why…”

“Marinette Du…” a voice from the doorway called out before trailing off uncomfortably.

Marinette and Dick immediately stopped arguing and shrank back from each other, still breathing hard. Marinette fought back the new wave of tears and shook her head to change focus. She chuckled stiffly and offered a wide, strained smile. “Sorry. This must be so awkward. This is…” she looked away, eyes darting over to Dick for a moment before returning to the nurse. “Sorry about this. Let’s just go back, please.”

“I can…” Dick started starting to move towards the door to the doctor’s offices.

“No!” Marinette cut him off coldly. “You have more important things to do. An important trip to prepare for.” She turned and walked back through the doors to the offices behind. 

The nurse looked back and forth between the door and Dick a few times before scurrying after Marinette with an awkward, “Right then.”

Dick growled and kicked one of the waiting room chairs, accidentally sending it flying across the room. This is not how this was supposed to end. This was not how their story was supposed to go. And there was nothing he could do. He _couldn’t_ fix this right now. He had to leave her like this until he got back. Damn it! Why couldn’t the universe have waited a few weeks? As soon as the Court’s plot was stopped or maybe as soon as the twins were born, he could tell her everything. 

Why did it have to happen now? He needed to be somewhere else. He needed to focus on the trip. He couldn’t focus on this now. If the mission fell through now they’d lose all their progress. It would all be for nothing, all the lost time, all the missed appointments, all the times he’d disappointed Marinette, for nothing. It couldn’t be for nothing. He had to make it worthwhile.

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone going off. Dick reluctantly pulled out his phone and looked at the caller, Tim. He sighed. “What’s up, Tim?” he asked with a defeated sigh.

“She knows!” Tim yelled at him desperately. “Marinette found out you don’t work here.”

“Yeah, no fucking kidding,” Dick grumbled leaning against his motorcycle.

“You saw her already?” Dick could hear Tim’s grimace through the phone.

“Yeah.”

“Things go badly?” Tim’s voice was appropriately tentative, like he already knew the answer but felt the need to ask anyway.

“No, it went peachy,” Dick snapped. “She loved that I lied to her, that I’ve been lying to her since we met, and couldn’t explain why.”

Tim hesitated for a few seconds before offering a heartfelt, “I’m sorry, Dick.”

“Yeah, me too,” he sighed, trying to fight back his own tears.

“What are you going to do?”

“Stop this plot then fix this.”

“… In… Is that the order you want to do it in?” Tim asked cautiously.

“We need to stop the plot now. We lose this, we lose everything. It has to be now,” Dick answered resolutely.

Tim sighed and didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Jason was right. You’re such a fucking dumbass,” Tim said angrily before hanging up on him.


	24. The Show Doesn’t Care if You’re Falling Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick comes back from a successful mission just in time to make Marinette's fashion show.

That was… well, not harder than anticipated, they anticipated it being hard, but terrible. That was terrible. Everything just barely seemed to come together. Even after all their preparation, as always seems to happen, it came down to the last few seconds before they were able to disarm the last of the bombs. On top of that both Garth and Lilith had gotten injured pretty badly. They were all slightly off their game with Roy off the mission due to his broken jaw and multiple cracked ribs. Dick probably should have waited until after the mission to kick his ass, but he would never have been able to hold off his anger that long and if he’d had to be in an enclosed place with him for two weeks, Roy would have ended up in the hospital for a few months at least.

Dick scrubbed his hand over his face a few times. God, he was glad to be home. He wished more than anything he was walking into his apartment and into Marinette’s open arms. He would give anything to just curl up with Marinette in their bed and sleep for a week with her in his arms, but he’d burned that bridge pretty soundly.

Instead, he was walking into his childhood home because he didn’t know if Marinette was still in their apartment and he wasn’t about to make her feel awkward if she was. He really hoped she was still there. They’d bought that place to be a home for the twins. He wanted them to have that, even if it didn’t include him. 

So he avoided what he hoped was their home and came back to the manor. Hell, he wasn’t sure if he was all that welcome here either considering how Jason and Tim had been acting before he left. But, he needed somewhere to lay down and rest while he figured out how to make it up to Marinette, or at the very least be amicable for the sake of the twins. He knew she wouldn’t cut him out of the twins’ lives, but he wanted more than to just be there. He wanted them to work together, to _be_ together. He wanted her, even knowing he didn’t deserve her. He wanted to make her happy. _He_ wanted to be happy and he hadn’t been whenever he wasn’t with her. Every time he left, he was miserable.

He looked up when he heard footsteps making their way toward him quickly and perked up a bit. Maybe the family wasn’t as angry with him as he had anticipated. Maybe, they were coming to welcome him home. If they weren’t too mad, then maybe they’d help him prove himself to Marinette. He could definitely use the help and they were all close to Marinette. He smiled at Bruce, Tim, and Jason as they entered the foyer. “Hey guys!”

“Dick! Welcome home. Congratulations on the mission. Tell me about it after you’ve gotten settled in,” Bruce smiled warmly at him.

“It’s all in the report, B,” Dick chuckled.

“Yeah, but I want to hear you talk about it, about more than just what was in the report.” Bruce clapped him on his shoulder as he passed him to make his way outside.

Dick beamed at him and finally took note of their outfits. “You guys look nice. Where are you going?”

“Out, asshole,” Jason growled roughly bumping his shoulder into Dick’s as he walked out too.

Tim gave him a sympathetic look as he passed. “Welcome back. Hope to see you there.” He nodded and followed them out.

Dick furrowed his brow, staring at the door for a few moments. Join them where? “Welcome home, Master Dick. Should I have your room prepared for tonight?” Alfred asked as he pulled on his coat as well.

“I think that’s probably for the best until I can speak with Marinette,” Dick grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I believe Miss Marinette and Kismet have been staying with Master Adrien since you left,” Alfred informed him. His voice was passive but years of experience with Alfred allowed Dick to detect the sharpness in the words.

“I see. Thank you, Alfred,” he shot him a look to let him know he understood the message Alfred was passing on. Dick had driven Marinette out of her home. This was his fault and he needed to be the one to fix it. “Hey Alfred, where is everyone going?”

Alfred gave him a sympathetic look. “I think you need to figure this one out on your own.” Alfred watched Dick as his brow furrowed at the cryptic answer. Dick mentally ran through the schedule of things the family had on the schedule. There weren’t many and he couldn’t think of any that were coming up. “Isn’t there somewhere you were supposed to be? Something you were supposed to make it back for?” Alfred prompted him.

Dick shook his head at the words. There was no gala coming up, no special dinners that he had been informed of. There wasn’t even a significant Justice League meeting he knew of. The only important event he had was Marinette’s show and the birth of the twins. But the due date was more than a month away and the show was next week.

Alfred sighed and looked past him. “Master Damian, it is time to leave.”

“I’m here, Alfred,” Damian grumbled, shuffling into the room. “I don’t understand why I must go when Grayson doesn’t have to. He’s the reason I have to go in the first place.” He gave Dick a glare as he passed him. “And they’re not even together anymore, so he gets out of it.”

Damian slammed the door as he left through it. Dick’s eyes were glued on the door. He dropped his bag and pulled out his phone silently praying he was wrong. He pulled up his calendar. He was not wrong. Today was the show and it started in just over an hour. God! His brain hadn’t caught up with the real date. He had been so busy he still thought it was last week.

He silently cursed as he rushed to his room to take a shower and pull on a suit. He frowned at the suit. It was a fine suit, but it wasn’t special. It wasn’t one by Marinette. Everything she made was amazing and he would have loved to represent her. So a plain, old designer suit would have to do, with a bright blue tie, the color she said made her think of him.

He raced through the streets on his motorcycle, weaving in and out of traffic to get there faster. Maybe it was a good thing he wasn’t wearing a suit from her after all, because with all the wind whipping his jacket and tie around, there was no way his suit was going to look good when he got there.

He jumped off his bike and rushed inside. He approached the security officers at the door and realized he hadn’t thought this through. He didn’t have a ticket. He and Marinette hadn’t talked about logistics like whether he would need a ticket, before he had left. She probably hadn’t set one aside for him after the fight either. Which meant he had no way into the show. He was going to miss Marinette’s show.

He groaned and ran his hands over his face and through his hair. She had been working on this for a full year. She had put her blood, sweat, and tears into this event. Literally. All three, she literally put all three into the outfits. And he was going to miss it. He wasn’t going to be able to see all her hard work come to fruition. Damn it! This meant so much to her and he was missing it. He couldn’t support her because of a fight that was his fault in the first place.

“Mr. Grayson?” The tentative voice broke his downward spiral.

He looked up and shook his head, confused at the sight. “Teri? What are you doing here?”

She chuckled lightly. “It’s a Wayne Enterprises event, Mr. Grayson. I’m security.” She looked over him analytically. “Do you need a way in?”

Dick shot up. “Yes! Yes, I do. Can you get me in?”

Teri nodded and pushed his arm slightly to get him to move toward the door with her as she walked him past the security guards stationed there. “Mr. Pennyworth said to tell you they have a seat for you in the front and not to dawdle. His words, not mine, sir.”

Dick sighed in relief. “Thank you, Teri. Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I have an idea,” she smirked at him. There was a shine in her eyes indicating she knew more than him. “I know how much it would devastate Miss. Dupain-Cheng if you weren’t there.” Dick looked away quickly before she could see the change in his eyes. He wasn’t so sure Marinette would be all that devastated. “There you go, sir.”

Marinette walked on stage just as he slid into his seat between Damian and Alfred. Polite applause sounded throughout the room with the exception of one loud, Jason sounding voice whooping in excitement. Marinette giggled and shook her head to focus back on the task at hand. “Thank you everyone for that very enthusiastic greeting,” she smirked in their direction. 

“I wanted to start off by thanking Wayne Enterprises and especially Mr. Wayne and Mr. Drake for selecting me to work on this project with them. I’d also like to thank Mr. Fox for all of his brilliant work coming up with the fabrics I used for the show. Wayne Enterprises has put a lot of work and development into creating fabrics that are more than they seem, deceptively beautiful one might say. 

“Tonight, any light or color changes or shifts in rigidity you see in the clothes is entirely due to the fabric. There are no special effects tonight, just special fabrics. We will have a press conference after the show where Messrs. Drake and Fox can elucidate the technology involved. I’m just here for the pretty. They’re here for the brains.” She grinned at her own self-deprecating joke. “And without further ado, let’s start the show!”

She spun around and walked quickly behind the screen. The first model walked out on stage and Dick was vaguely aware of gasps from the audience, but he didn’t notice the model. He was still staring at the spot where Marinette had disappeared. Her hair was up in a bun and her dress was a blue and back, body skimming dress, both of which reminded him of the first night he met her.

She looked gorgeous, which wasn’t unexpected. She always had been. He thought maybe his mind had made her seem even more gorgeous while he was gone and missing her, but it wasn’t a trick of his mind, she was gorgeous and so much bigger than when he left. He had only been gone two weeks and it seemed like her belly had grown more in the last two weeks than the two months before that. Her dress skimmed over her bump, accentuating it. She was in no way trying to hide the bump, as if she could, she was wearing it proudly and he wished he could hug her and rest his hands on it, maybe see if Robert and Lucy might kick his hands. 

He ran his hand through his hair again, further messing it up. He had missed so much. Not just the last two weeks. He’d missed so much of the twins developing because of his trips. And in this last one they’d gotten so much _bigger_. How much more was he going to miss because of missions?

Another whoop drew his attention back to the runway. He blinked a few times to make sure he really was seeing what he was seeing. Stephanie was walking down the catwalk toward a black haired model who had just turned to return. He stared at the two wondering how many models he had missed already. When the black haired model got to the far end of the runway she turned around again and Dick finally saw her, Cassandra. She smiled at the audience and did a standing backflip. As she moved, her dark blue jumpsuit flared with electricity. He narrowed his eyes at it. He gasped as he realized it was collecting energy from her movements.

His attention shifted back to Stephanie who had a proud grin, knowing the entire audience was amazed. She made her way to the end of the runway in a gorgeous full body dress, a flame shot across the stage just before she reached it. Stephanie, the chaos child she was, just grinned at the flame and continued to walk straight into it. She stood in the fire’s flame for a few moments, letting the flame curl around her dress completely unaffected by the heat, before winking and turning back to return backstage.

As she walked back, she high fived the next model she passed. Dick chuckled as Duke swaggered his way down the runway with a sultry look on his face. The lights at the end of the runway changed tone slightly to emulate sunlight. As Duke approached the end of the runway, his shirt, or rather patterns in his shirt, started glowing. The patterns got brighter the longer Duke stood under the sunlight. Duke gave a cocky grin, knowing how impressive the outfit was and how good he looked in it before turning to walk back.

Halfway back, he fist bumped the next model, who Dick almost didn’t recognize as Rachel’s brother, Eddie. Eddie didn’t have the swagger Duke had, but he held his own. When he reached the end of the runway, he tugged on his jacket, changing the color of the jacket from black to blue. He gave a smile to the audience and turned back to return. About a quarter of the way back, he started running at the other model, who braced himself for Eddie to push off of into a flip over him. He tugged on the jacket again mid-flip, exposing a new pattern in the jacket.

The new model turned back to the Audience with a confident, amused smile. Dick huffed at how natural Adrien seemed on the runway and in a tuxedo. By the time he made it to the end of the runway, someone had placed a candle at the end of the runway. Adrien smirked and did a quick turn, whipping out the ends of his tuxedo coat. As the coat spun, the ends turned hard and sliced cleanly through the candle. When he turned back around, the ends of the coat fell fluidly around his back and bottom, all signs of rigidity gone. 

Adrien returned backstage and the models, Dick had clearly been staring after Marinette for a while because there were quite a few models he had missed in a variety of silhouettes, paraded out on stage for a final walk. Adrien walked out last, arm in arm with Marinette who had an effervescent smile on her face as she waved to the audience. Marinette suddenly looked around confused and yelled something to Stephanie, who was just going backstage. Stephanie grinned and disappeared. Less than a minute later, Stephanie was pushing Rachel out on stage as well. Rachel looked out at the still applauding audience in awe until Marinette gave her a hug and guided her backstage with her. 

Before she had even made it backstage, Dick was moving to meet her. Barely noting the Wayne Enterprises employee announcing a press conference to discuss the innovations Marinette’s designs showcased starting in fifteen minutes. So he had fifteen minutes to talk to Marinette.

He scanned the room and quickly found Marinette, at the center of the people, all congratulating her and celebrating, passing around champagne for the adults and water for Marinette and the minors. He started to move towards her but paused. This was her big moment. This is everything she had been working towards for a year. She was elated right now. He didn’t want to ruin her moment by bringing his drama into it. She deserved this moment. She deserved the elation. He couldn’t take it away. And they only had fifteen minutes, less now. That wasn’t enough. It would just bring the mood down without the time to bring it back up.

“Glad you could make it,” Lucius offered quietly, offering Dick a champagne flute.

“Thank you. You did amazing work. Those fabrics were brilliant,” Dick offered kindly, still staring at Marinette.

“Thank you. I thought you might like the color scheme. Blue, black, and grey. Seemed like colors you would appreciate.” He gave Dick a knowing smile. 

“She’s been working on this since before she met me and even if she hadn’t… she doesn’t know.” Dick looked down embarrassed. He didn’t want another conversation about why she didn’t’ know.

“The grey and black were there since before she met you, but the blue was more recent.” Lucius turned toward Marinette. “You never told her.”

Dick let out a deep sigh. “The doctor said her pregnancy was risky. She was supposed to reduce as much stress as possible. I couldn’t… there was already so much stress from the show, I couldn’t add more to it.” Even as he said the words he knew there was something wrong with them. Now that the mission was over, the words felt shallow, wrong.

Lucius silently studied Dick for a few moments while Dick pretended to focus on the chaos around them. Finally, a look of realization settled in Lucius’ eyes. “You know… being left behind, it leaves scars on a person, even if that was never the intent, even if that’s the last thing the person who left would ever want. Watching them leave your life… it leaves a mark that sometimes never goes away.” Dick opened his mouth to object. He was _not_ leaving them behind. Why did everyone think he would? What did that say about him that everyone thought that he ever could? 

Before he could say anything, Lucius continued. “Like watching your parents die in front of your eyes…” Dick snapped his mouth shut and stared at Lucius wide eyed. “It leaves scars. It makes you willing to go to extreme lengths to stop it from happening again. It makes you _need_ to stop it. For some people that means putting on a bat costume and protecting a city. For some people it means going out constantly to stamp out any potential threats. And that need can be so strong, you can’t afford to let anyone stop you from doing so.” He paused to scan the room, his eyes settling on Marinette. “Miss. Dupain-Cheng seems like the protective type.”

“She is,” Dick nodded numbly.

“The type that wouldn’t let someone she loves go out and risk their life recklessly for her. The kind that would stop it. Redirect the trauma.” Dick stared at him dumbfounded. “Are you sure by not telling her you’re protecting her, or are you preempting her, before she can talk you out of doing something you feel like you need to do?” 

“No, that’s not… There was a big plot. The Court of Owls was planning a coordinated attack against the power grid in a few cities. The attack would have taken down the Eastern seaboard and a good portion of the Midwest. I had to stop it. I couldn’t… I couldn’t let her get hurt.”

Lucius nodded along with his words, contemplating what he said. After a few minutes he spoke up again. “You know, the hardest fabric to develop was the one with variable rigidity. I couldn’t get the link to break. Forming the bond was easy, but breaking it… impossible. The theory was there but I couldn’t get it to work. I spent _weeks_ maybe months focusing on nothing but getting that to work.”

Dick furrowed his brow at him, completely uncertain where the apparent non-sequitur was going. “But you figured it out.”

“I did.” He nodded in confirmation. “And then Tim informed me we might not be able to use Stephanie’s design or the one before hers, maybe a few others.”

Dick shook his head in surprise. “But that was brilliant. That design was amazing. It was my favorite, honestly… don’t tell my siblings that.”

Lucius chuckled. “Your secret’s safe with me.” He suddenly turned serious again. “There was a problem with production on the insulation fabrics, both the fire and ice insulators. I spent so much time and focus on getting the variable rigidity working, I completely missed that production was falling apart. That’s a problem I have sometimes, you know? I hyper focus on one important thing and miss all the other the important things, even when they’re more important. Could have destroyed the entire show.”

Dick blinked at him a few times. He opened his mouth to respond, with what, he wasn’t sure, but luckily he was saved at the last second. “Dick!”

Dick was ripped out of his confused haze by the sound of a familiar voice calling his name. When he finally located the source he gave her a strained smile. “Rachel. Great job with the collection.”

“Oh, I didn’t do much of anything. Marinette did all the work, and Lucius of course,” she deferred shyly.

Lucius smiled at her graciously. “I know the most impressive part was done by Marinette. Finding a way to show all the innovations in their best light. Her creativity is astounding.”

“I know Marinette found your insights very valuable, Rachel. Just take the compliment,” Dick smiled at her.

“Yo! Mr. Grayson,” Eddie called out to him, shaking his hand.

“Eddie. You looked great up there. A natural model,” Dick smiled at him.

Eddie blushed and looked away. “It was okay. Glad I could help.”

“Good flip up there too. I bet you could have a good future as an action model if you wanted. You should talk to Adrien about it,” Dick encouraged him.

“Do you think he’d talk to me?” Eddie asked excitedly.

“I know he would absolutely love to help someone trying to break into the business. I can… um…” he hesitated considering whether he would be the best intermediary between Eddie and Adrien. “Or you can go up to him now. He’ll be thrilled, honestly.”

Eddie looked around until he spotted Adrien. “Yeah, maybe…” his phone started ringing. He pulled it out. He gave a confused expression before turning to the group with an apologetic smile. “Just a second.” He stepped away to take the call, returning a moment later. His expression had turned to a concerned one. “Rachel, we have to go now. That was Mrs. Greene, there’s something going on back home.”

“I can take you,” Lucius offered.

“The press conference will start in one minute if you will all make your way to the next room,” the Wayne Enterprises employee announced loudly.

Dick shook his head. “No, you have to do the conference. I can take them… If I can borrow your car. I just have my bike.”

“No scratches, Mr. Grayson,” Lucius warned him playfully, holding up the keys for him.

Dick gave him a charming, devious smile. “Understood. I’ll pull it around while you change, Eddie. And Lucius?”

“Yes Mr. Grayson?”

“Can you let Marinette know I was here and why I had to leave, please?” He asked softly.

“Gladly, Mr. Grayson.” He gave him a supportive smile and turned to join the others.

<><><><><>

Dick closed the door to his apartment slowly. What the hell had he just witnessed? Kora’s restaurant had been attacked and the police spent the entire time he was there accusing Eddie of trying to help his parents by doing it for the insurance money, even though the evidence was extremely clear it wasn’t an inside job and Eddie had an alibi. The officers then got mad at Dick when he started taking pictures to give some additional documentation of the incident for Kora to submit with her insurance claim. One officer threatened to arrest him if he continued to interfere with their investigation. What the hell was going on?

“Hey Daddy Dearest. Heard you were back in town. Missed you at the show,” Stephanie called to him from her perch on the kitchen counter.

“I was there,” Dick grumbled. It had been a long day and he needed to figure a few things out, preferably alone. “Sat with the family and everything. Your dress was amazing.”

“I know. You didn’t say hi to Marinette,” she observed a little too casually.

“I didn’t want to ruin her big moment. I was waiting until after, but then I had to take Rachel and Eddie home. Someone attacked the restaurant. Then there was a whole… the police were trying to pin it on Eddie,” he explained, incredulity sneaking into his tone.

She quirked her head to the side considering his words. Finally, she gave a resolute nod. “We can investigate then. Probably a mob hit or a cop.”

Dick sighed dejectedly. “Are they really that corrupt?” He already knew the answer but he was hoping maybe she might have some words of insight or hope.

Instead, she started laughing. No words of hope then. “Duh! Where have you been? Yeah,” she tried to settle herself but the laughter escaped again for another few minutes. When she was finally able to control her laughter at his obliviousness, she turned her expression to more contemplative. “So, you’re going to talk to Marinette?”

“Yeah. See if I can fix this. If it even can be fixed.” He scrubbed his face with his hands again. “I’m not so sure anymore. Maybe I’ve broken it beyond repair. Now that the mission is over, I can finally focus on her.”

Stephanie let out a long breath through her nose. “So… the mission’s over?”

“The mission is over,” he repeated, the relief he felt evident in his voice and body. As soon as he said the words his body relaxed and he slumped against the counter.

“When does the next one start?” she asked innocently.

He scrunched his face in confusion. Was there something going on he hadn’t heard about? “What next one?”

She rolled her eyes and let out a long suffering, exasperated sigh. “There is always a next one, Dick. There’s always another mission that demands your attention and takes you away for indefinite amounts of time. As long as you’re the leader of the Titans, that’s not going to change. So how long are you going to stay this time?”

“I’m…” he started. She was right. Even after the twins were born, there would be a next mission, a next trip he would have to go on and he would miss them growing up while he was in some shady motel or safe house on the other side of the planet. Was that what he wanted?

She jumped down off of the counter. “You think about it. I just stopped by to drop off a present from Lucius. I left it on your couch, although if you felt willing to part with it later, it’d make a great present for your sister.” She pulled him into a tight hug. “Bye, Dick.”

Dick nodded absentmindedly to her. “Yeah, bye, Steph.” His mind was already working on something else. How long of a break was he going to take? Would he be able to take a break? Or was something else going to come up? He stared absently at the counter. What was it she said? 90% of parenting is just being there? And he wasn’t. He couldn’t. And he had been miserable the past few months. Every time he’d had to leave for the Titans, he’d been miserable. 

She stopped in the doorway and turned back to him. “For what it’s worth, she still loves you. She’s hurt and confused and scared and mad, justifiably, but she loved you and that hasn’t gone away. I don’t know if you can fix it. It depends on your priorities and your actions. Something will have to change. And if not… you know, sometimes people just work out better as friends.” She gave him a wan smile and left.

He groaned in frustration and went to collapse on the couch so he could better wallow in his misery. He was the worst human on the planet. He picked up one of the pillows to cover his face. Maybe if he was lucky, Lucius had created a special Wayne Enterprises suffocation material and this pillow was made out of it so he would be put out of his misery. After a few seconds of still being able to breathe, he groaned. Nothing was going his way. He took the pillow off his face and tucked it behind his head, catching on something. He reached back and grabbed it to get a look at it.

He sat up to examine it. It was Stephanie’s dress. Dick huffed out a laugh at the incredibly unsubtle hint. It was the dress that almost didn’t make it into the show, the show that almost didn’t happen because Lucius had been too focused on other things, too focused on protecting Marinette to truly consider her. Fucking fuck! Lucius was right and Dick hadn’t seen it. He was so scared to lose Marinette, he pushed her away. _Jason_ had been right and he hadn’t seen it.

He needed to fix it now, before he lost her forever. If she had sent the ticket, it meant she wasn’t gone yet. She was still willing to try, if not for a relationship, at least as friends. But Stephanie was right, there would always be another mission. Was he willing to miss his kids developing and growing like he had so far? The short answer was no. He wasn’t willing to keep missing their lives. He couldn’t be the full time Titans leader, and a full time vigilante, and a full time father. Something needed to give and it _couldn’t_ be his family.

He could step back being a vigilante, only patrol occasionally or when something big happened and he could step away from the Titans, Donna could lead better than him anyway. That would keep him in Gotham full time, but he needed to figure out a job, one that allowed him to stay local and still protect people. He did not want to give that up if he could help it. He’d spent the last more than a decade fighting villains and corruption. He didn’t want to stop now.

He picked up his phone and tapped it against his lips absentmindedly for a few minutes. Finally he gave a determined nod and sent Marinette a text. ‘The show was amazing. Can we talk tomorrow? I want to tell you everything.’ That sent, he scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he wanted. After a few rings, a disgruntled voice answered. “What do you want, Grayson?”

“Commissioner Gordon? I wanted to talk to you about my future. Can I come over?”


	25. Out of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is missing and the bats and a cat have to work together to find her.

Dick woke up to a far too early knocking, more like pounding, on his door. He and Jim Gordon had been up half the night talking about the corruption in the police force and whether Dick should join, before deciding he could make a difference if he did. He would be able to help Jim slowly weed out the corruption if he was working with him from the inside. They’d even filled out all his applications for the Police Academy, starting in a month. He would have to be away from Marinette and the twins during the day, but he would be able to come home to them every night. If she let him. And she would know where he was.

But all that talk meant he had only gotten a few hours of sleep last night and he was dead tired this morning. He really just wanted to go back to sleep, but the pounding on the door continued unabated. He groaned and made his way to the door. “Answer your damn phone, asshole,” Jason growled at him, pushing past him to look around the room. “We’re fucking thrilled if you and Pixie got back together, but let us know you both aren’t dead.”

Dick shook his head and scrunched his face in confusion. “That we’re what? I haven’t gotten to talk with Marinette yet. I’m hoping that’s how it will go, but I think that’s probably overly optimistic.”

Jason’s expression turned in an instant from annoyed to scared. It was not a look he was used to seeing on Jason’s face. Jason never got scared, or if he did, he never showed it. “Pixie is here, right?” he asked again, enunciating each word clearly. “She’s with you.”

“No… I just woke up. I was talking with Commissioner Gordon all night. Why would you think she was with me?” Dick shook his head again, trying to make sense of what he was saying. Had Marinette planned on meeting him here? Maybe she came back and fell asleep. He ran to her bedroom to check, but the room was exactly as it had been for the past few weeks. No sign of Marinette. He returned to the living room and shook his head.

“Shit!” Jason looked around desperately.

“Tell me what is going on right now. Why did you think Marinette was with me?” Dick asked carefully. His breathing became strained. This isn’t the way this was supposed to go. He had saved her. He had stopped the Court of Owls. He stopped their plot. She was safe.

Jason pulled out his phone and called Tim, talking as he did, without bothering to acknowledge Tim when he answered and putting him on speaker as soon as he did. “She’s missed all her appointments today. Adrien said she said she was going to talk with you today. She isn’t in Adrien’s apartment or Wayne Enterprises. Her phone is in her studio, but she isn’t,” Jason answered slowly, eyes darting around as if calculating something. “We figured she must be here.”

“We didn’t set the time yet. I haven’t heard from her. When was the last time someone saw her?” Dick asked frantically, running to his bedroom to start getting dressed.

“I’m going to start going through security footage around Adrien’s apartment and her studio,” Tim reported.

Jason’s phone started flashing with another call. “Patching Adrien into the call too,” he informed them and pushed a few buttons to enable it. “Adrien, tell me you have something.”

Adrien’s voice hesitated for a moment. Dick and Jason shared an apprehensive look. “I have something, but it’s bad… Someone told me you’d know how to get in contact with Batman?”

Jason froze and looked up at Dick with a panicked expression. There was no way that was good. “I think we might have a way to contact Batman, why?”

“I know where she is, but we’re going to need Batman and his team to get her back.” There was barely a quiver to Adrien’s voice as he spoke, but years of training made it come across as clear as glass to the others on the call.

“Where is she?” Dick yelled into the phone.

“Dick? They don’t have you? That’s good… I guess. It means they only wanted her… Actually, no, wait, maybe that’s worse,” Adrien prattled.

“Who is they?” Dick demanded.

“Some people with owl masks.” There was a hedge in his voice as though he didn’t think they would believe him.

Dick stopped breathing. The Court had taken Marinette. No, no, no, no. He had stopped them. He had made sure Marinette was safe. He had protected her from them. That’s what the past few months of hell had all been about.

“You can get ahold of Batman, right?” Adrien asked again, in a more strained voice. “I know someone who’d like to talk to him.”

Jason furrowed his brow and looked to Dick to see if he had any ideas. “Who?”

“Chat Noir.”

Jason looked at Dick communicating their intentions and agreement through minute body quirks and purposeful looks. “We can get ahold of someone. We will make sure someone is on the top of the Wayne Enterprises building in half an hour. Is that enough time for him?”

“He’ll be there,” Adrien confirmed confidently.

Jason cut Adrien’s connection and glared at the floor in thought. “Why would they want Marinette?”

“The plot you stopped was all about the power grid, wasn’t it?” Tim interjected. “Trying to run up prices for some of their members who owned supply and power companies?”

“Yeah…” Dick answered uncertainly.

“Then there was no reason for them to be at the Stone concert, right? Those execs were from Netflix, no way associated with this,” Tim elaborated.

Dick drew in a deep breath and cursed. “They were there watching Marinette. They were planning this all along. They wanted Marinette from the beginning. Why?”

“Everyone go get suited up. Get there as soon as possible. I’ll text the others,” Jason stated, moving quickly toward the door so he could get to his apartment.

<><><><><>

Batman, Red Robin, Signal, and Red Hood made it to the rooftop with time to spare, since they were already close to their costumes. Nightwing, Black Bat, Spoiler, and Robin had further to go to get to their costumes and had to trickle into the meeting, but they kept track of the conversation through the coms until they could be there in person.

“Chat Noir.” Batman stepped forward and nodded.

“Batman. Bats and Birds.” Chat Noir nodded to Batman and the rest of the bats. “I was thinking there would be more.”

“They’re on their way but listening in,” Batman assured him briskly. “Let’s start with how do you know where she is?”

Chat looked over to the edge of the building at the sound of two sets of boots landing, he continued to speak as he silently acknowledged Nightwing and Robin. “I’ve been keeping a close eye on Marinette since the pharmacy incident. You might say I’ve had a catbug on her… with her permission of course. She sent the scout to find me when she thought they were in her final location. They didn’t seem interested in immediately harming her or the scout would have stayed. We have time, I just don’t know how much.”

“Do you know how she was taken?” Batman asked.

Chat nodded, annoyance settling in his expression as he did. “A couple men dressed as cops approached her at her studio and said something happened to Dick, her boyfriend… kind of… it’s complicated. She went with them. By the time she figured out they were not headed to the hospital, there was a knife digging into her bump.”

“Any ideas on why they took Pi… her?” Red Hood broke in.

“They said something about a Grayson, so I have to imagine it’s to get at Dick Grayson, the babies’ father, for some reason or to get her twins perhaps for ransom. I don’t suppose you have any ideas why they would want to get back at Dick, would you? Is he a member? Did he double cross them?” Chat mused.

“What?” Nightwing exclaimed. “No!”

“Well…” Spoiler hedged as she and Black Bat landed.

“ _Dick Grayson_ didn’t do anything to them,” Nightwing gritted out.

Chat Noir studied Nightwing carefully then suddenly whipped his head over to Red Hood, running his eyes over him in a calculated manner and moving quickly to do the same to Red Robin. “Fuck. That’s why he said you guys would know how to get in contact with Batman. That’s why you’ve been disappearing.” He stuck an accusatory finger in Nightwing’s direction. “Why the fuck didn’t you just tell her that, you fucking dumbass!”

“See! Even the catman agrees.” Red Hood exclaimed.

“She wasn’t supposed to get stressed and I didn’t want her knowing I was putting my life in danger every night, constantly,” Nightwing attempted to defend himself, but even to himself, his voice sounded unsure.

“She put up with me for years. She is perhaps the world’s foremost expert in dealing with idiots who constantly put their lives in danger,” Chat exclaimed exasperated. He had to have known that. Marinette had talked to him about how frustrated she had gotten with Chat. Hell, he was there for some of those conversations with Dick, while she glared at Chat the whole time.

“You think memories of that didn’t add stress?” Nightwing exploded, stalking slowly toward Chat as he spoke. “She still has nightmares about it. And pregnancy hormones make nightmares even more realistic. You weren’t there almost every night when she woke up crying because she saw you sacrificing yourself in new ways or when she dreamt it was me instead of you. And the last one she had before our fight… She sobbed almost nonstop for almost an hour. I was terrified for her.”

“And you weren’t there when she was sobbing because you said you loved her then ran away like she didn’t matter,” Adrien returned just as angrily, standing his ground against Nightwing. “Or when she broke down because she couldn’t trust you anymore. Because you spent months lying to her. Not because you had a secret. Secrets she understands, intimately. Because she trusted you and you lied and without an explanation, she had to assume you lied about _everything_.”

“I was protecting her from the Court of Owls,” Dick yelled.

“So that’s what the cult is called? Bang up job, there.” Chat growled back. He moved away to collect his thoughts and deescalate the situation. Fighting now wouldn’t help Marinette. They needed to work together to rescue her. Finally, he sighed and rubbed his hand across his forehead like he was trying to ward off a migraine. “She owes me a hundred euros for this. So, what’s these guys’ deal? Do they know who you are or are they asking for ransom?”

“We don’t think they know who he is, but ransom isn’t really their deal either,” Red Robin answered.

“Why would they want her otherwise?” Signal asked.

Chat opened his mouth a few times before cocking his head to the side and furrowing his brow and grimacing as if trying to figure out how to say what he was thinking. “Could they know about… her association with the Paris heroes?”

“What exactly is her association with them?” Batman asked

Chat opened his mouth and closed it quickly. “That sounds like a question for Marinette.”

“Well she isn’t fucking here is she?” Red Hood pointed out curtly.

“Close. Very close,” he answered carefully.

“Clearly,” Spoiler huffed motioning to Chat.

“Closer than that.” He grimaced. He was definitely skirting the line of flat out telling her secrets, but if it saved her babies, he was sure she would be okay with it. He just wasn’t sure yet if it actually related at all. “But I don’t know how they could have found out. She hasn’t been around any costumed heroes in years.”

“And they said this was about Grayson,” Robin pointed out. “It is far more likely they know Grayson’s identity and this is punishment for stopping them.”

“If they’ve been tracking her since the concert, maybe earlier, it isn’t just about ruining their plans,” Red Robin clarified.

“They were doing what?” Chat’s head whipped around to look at him.

“I saw a talon at the Stone concert. That’s why I disappeared. I was investigating,” Nighwing explained distractedly. “We can figure out the reason later. Let’s focus on freeing her, making sure she’s okay. You said you know where she is. She’s probably terrified, and she doesn’t need _more_ nightmares.”

“Yeah, she’s being held under here,” he pushed a few buttons on his baton and sent the location to the Bats.

“How did you do that?” Signal asked with amazement in his voice.

“Magic,” Chat answered, flaring out his fingers. 

“So what’s the plan?” Stephanie asked.

“Oracle do you have the building layout?” Batman asked into the coms.

“I’m having trouble getting in. It looks like they have several layers of security and self-contained power. It might take me a bit,” Oracle responded.

“We wait to see if we can get insight into the building then create the plan. Our tech person is having difficulty getting in,” Batman stated so Chat could hear.

Chat nodded and teetered back and forth from his toes to his heels, anxiety ramping up in the silence. “So, any tips or tricks I should know before fighting these guys, if that’s what’s happening?”

“The guys with glowing yellow eyes are highly trained. The rest will try to kill you, but they’re like drunken toddlers, it’s the yellow eyed bastards you have to watch out for,” Red Hood answered as he leaned against the half-wall running along the edge of the building.

“They’re not drunken toddlers. They’re dangerous too,” Batman emphasized affronted. He’d fought those guys in a group. They had almost overpowered him.

“Okay fine,” Red Hood waved him off, “but not like the talons.”

“Any weaknesses for those yellow eyed talon guys?” Chat asked apprehensively.

“Not really. They’re highly trained, highly skilled, superhuman speed, superhuman healing,’ Nightwing answered.

“Fuck,” Chat answered with a whistle.

“Appropriate response,” Red Robin nodded.

“They need a substance to keep healing,” Batman corrected.

“So if we injure enough of them they won’t have enough substance for everyone?” Chat offered.

“Not the route I want to go, but yeah,” Signal agreed.

“And cold. They’re susceptible to cold,” Batman added.

“Cold?” Chat clarified, suddenly listening very intently.

“Yeah, it interferes with their healing,” Red Hood explained. “Makes it so their injuries stick.”

“So if we could make it freezing cold down there…” Chat trailed off.

“Doesn’t have to be the whole place, just where the talons are,” Red Robin mused out loud. “There likely won’t be many, if any. They can’t be expecting us yet. They were too careful. If it wasn’t for Chat’s scout, we’d have no idea. But yes, if you can make them cold, we’d have a better chance.”

Chat stopped and looked contemplative for a few moments. “Let me make a quick call.” He turned around and walked a few steps away. After a few minutes he returned. “Snowflake will be here in 35 minutes.”

“The ice chick from New York?” Red Hood asked.

Chat nodded in response. Damian eyed him suspiciously. “That’s awfully quick.”

“She’s going to catch a ride with Uncanny Valley and Uncanny will be able to hack into their security as soon as she gets here. She just has to be close. We can get the plans from her and break into their security system.”

“How can she do that? No offense to your friend, but if Oracle can’t do it, it’s unlikely anybody else would be able to so quickly,” Red Robin asked.

“Thank you,” Oracle cut in.

“Uhhh… magic?” Chat offered with less enthusiasm than before.

“Let’s move to a closer position while we wait. We’ll come up with a plan once we have more information,” Batman said already taking out his grappling hook. “We have family to save.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Bbgirl3191 for the idea of using the Court of Owls. I had planned for Marinette to get kidnapped from the beginning but didn't know who should do it.
> 
> Also, I know people are going to be disappointed the rest of the miraculous team isn't helping but Chat can't get to the miraculous to bring them in.


	26. A Bird is Never Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bats, Chat, and New York heroes infiltrate the Court of Owls stronghold to rescue Marinette.

“Two sentries at the door, reporting in regularly. As soon as they miss a check in, they’re going to know we’re here,” Red Robin observed quietly.

“Uncanny, can you record their check ins?” Chat asked.

“I can next time they do it and play it back when it is time if I have their radios,” Uncanny confirmed.

“Perfect,” Spoiler grinned.

“Are you in their security?” Snowflake asked.

“Yes. Everything is looped. We can sneak in without them seeing on the cameras. I can’t break into the radios though,” Uncanny reported.

“We’ll just have to try to get them before they are able to send out an alert,” Signal shrugged. 

“Have you located Marinette?” Nightwing asked. The anxiety in his voice and tightness in his stance was clear even if everyone present hadn’t had training in observation.

“I haven’t. I don’t think they have her on security camera,” Uncanny shook her head in confusion.

Snowflake tapped Uncanny to let her know it was time to record the sentries, then signaled the rest when Uncanny confirmed she had it.

As soon as they got the signal, the group went into action. Red Robin and Red Hood dropped behind the sentries and knocked them out quickly. They grabbed their radios and passed them off to Uncanny. “Everyone split up in groups of two. Chat, you’re with me. Everyone goes in a different direction. Snowflake and Uncanny, you stay here until we call you. I need Uncanny focusing on security, see if there’s another video system that might have Marinette. Snowflake, I want you with her and available when we face a talon. Anyone finds Marinette, report in immediately,” Batman instructed. “Anyone gets into trouble, report it. Anyone finds a talon, call in Snowflake immediately. Let’s go.”

Everyone looked to one another and gave a determined nod. This was for family, both Marinette and the twins were family. They were not going to allow anything to happen to any of them and they were willing to do whatever they had to do in order to protect them. They paired off and went in separate directions without another word.

Somehow, they were extremely lucky and they seemed to miss all the guards doing their rounds, not that there were many. As Batman had predicted, they hadn’t been expecting anyone to find them so quickly and their guard wasn’t fully up yet. They were able to make it deeply into the building with only having faced a few owls.

After about thirty minutes, Red Hood’s voice finally broke the silence over the coms. “Fuck… Take a look at this Oracle. What do you think is in the capsules?”

“Scanning now,” Oracle reported. It only took a few minutes to come back with an answer. “People, or people shaped figures.”

Red Hood grimaced at the answer. It was exactly what he feared. “Talons?”

“Could be,” Oracle hedged. “There does appear to be a lot of electrum in the bodies. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

“There’s hundreds…” Red Hood trailed off aghast at the idea. If they woke these guys up, his team wouldn’t stand a chance. They’d be dead in seconds. Not to mention, even if they saved Marinette and the babies, the Court of Owls didn’t take failure well, they would retaliate. Marinette and the twins would never be safe. “Snowflake, can you make your way to my location? I think it would be a good idea to blast this room before they activate any of these guys.”

“Affirmative. On my way with Uncanny,” she answered quickly.

<><><><><>

Robin opened the door to the next hallway carefully. With the door made of solid metal, there was no way to see if anyone was in the hallway except to actually enter it. He froze when he saw partially concealed movement on the far side of the hallway. His eyes flicked up as a blur of red appeared and disappeared. He studied the scene to try to ascertain if the movement was Marinette or a threat, easing into a fighting stance. 

But with his focus entirely on the movement ahead, the missed the thick, wooden plank heading for him from the other side until he heard wood shattering above him. He jumped up into a flip to escape the attack. Unfortunately, the attacker threw the remainder of the plank at him, hitting him mid flip, knocking him off balance, and gouging his skin. He landed in a crouch ready to launch into a counter attack, but paused at finally being able to see the attacker.

“Shit! Robin. Sorry! I keep hurting you guys. But, thank God you’re so short or that first swing would have caught you full in the face.” Her eyes bugged out when she realized she had just insulted him. “I mean…”

“Marinette…” he looked at her amazed for a moment before touching the blood running down his face and examining it in surprise. He shook his head and tapped the com in his ear. “I have her. I have Marinette.”

“How is she?” Nightwing asked in a frantic tone.

“She looks in good health and well trained. I see three owls knocked out on the ground in the hallway behind her.” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“I’m pregnant not incapacitated,” she gave him an insulted look. “I may not be able to run but I can stab someone or swing a bat, or batlike object in this case. In fact, I have more mass behind my swing now.”

“Stab someone?” Robin asked with a raised eyebrow. That was not an answer he would have expected from her.

“They had knives. Now they don’t. I wanted something in case I got taken,” she shrugged. “And I sure as hell wasn’t going to leave them with weapons they could use if they woke up.”

Robin nodded in approval. “Smart. Of course since they were looking for Grayson’s children, you could have always just informed them that yours are not in fact Grayson’s.

Marinette nodded at him, keeping her eyes on the hallway behind them. “I considered that. But it seemed like there were only two likely outcomes to that. First, they believe me and kill me immediately, also killing the babies. Or, second, they decide to make sure and take a blood sample before they’re born and confirm that they are in fact Dick’s. So all that would have bought me was death or endangering the babies, because I don’t believe they would have been all that careful in taking the blood.”

Robin stared at her analytically for a few seconds as if seeing her for the first time. “Less talking more moving,” Batman instructed gruffly over the coms. “Snowflake, if you could make your way to my location, Chat and I could use your help, immediately.”

“I’m making my way to you, Robin,” Nightwing reported.

“Let’s get you out of here before you go into labor,” Robin told her. “I’m not delivering any babies.”

“What? Not looking forward to an upfront introduction to reproductive organs?” Red Robin laughed.

“I have had an extensive education on reproduction. I’m just not looking forward to seeing my… I’m just not looking to put my education into action.” Robin corrected quickly.

“Stay behind me,” Robin directed Marinette already moving back into the hallway he came from. Marinette nodded and rushed to catch up, keeping an eye behind them, knowing Robin couldn’t.

They reached a corner and Robin motioned for her to stop. She pushed herself against the wall behind him as he listened for signs of movement in the other corridor. He motioned to her that he heard two people coming and to stay back. She nodded in understanding and tried to press even further into the wall as though there was any way to hide with her belly bulging as far out as it was.

The two figures passed their hallway, barely glancing in their direction before doing a double take, clearly not having expected to see anyone there. Robin took advantage of their momentary hesitation, attacking both at the same time. He sent a flying kick to the first owl, sending him into the wall. He quickly pivoted to the second owl. He sent a series of jabs to his side. The owl bent over in pain. Robin roundhouse kicked him in the face, sending him into the wall. The first owl tried to sneak up on him but Robin ducked at the last second. He spun quickly knocking his legs out from under him.

Marinette watched in awe for a few seconds. Robin was a whirlwind of punches and kicks. Fast and effective. She turned to check behind them while he punched the second owl and let out a surprised gasp. Three more had snuck up on them while Robin had been fighting. The third owl grabbed her, holding her by the neck while the other two moved to attack Robin. Marinette stopped struggling against him. She wasn’t going to win a battle of strength or speed right now. But she didn’t need strength. She had steel.

She slipped one of the knives she’d taken from the owls earlier and stabbed behind her catching the owl in the side. He immediately let go falling as he grabbed his side, gasping for wet sounding breaths. Marinette kicked him in the face and turned back to the other two owls who hadn’t noticed she was free yet. She pulled the next two knives out of her boots. The fourth owl was about to strike Robin. Marinette threw the knife hitting him in the head with the hilt of the knife. The owl held his head and spun toward her.

She gave him a strained smile. “Need to work on that,” she offered weakly.

The owl shook his head and moved toward her while the fifth owl attacked Robin. Robin got into a fighting stance, eyes darting to the owl moving toward Marinette. He snapped his eyes back to the owl advancing on him. Marinette groaned and curled over grabbing her stomach. “You have got to be kidding!” she groaned breathing heavily.

“Oh, come on!” Robin exclaimed almost losing his focus on the owl in front of him.

The owl moving toward her grinned and reached for her. When he was next to her, closer than an arm’s length away, Marinette shot up, driving the knife into the owl. The owl gasped, looking at her confused. Marinette punched his face, sending him sideways. Robin, having already dispatched his owl, followed her punch with a kick, knocking him out.

“Are you okay? Was that a contraction?” A look of fear that hadn’t been there while fighting the owls, had now settled on his face.

“No, thankfully. Hopefully I didn’t tempt fate though.” She grimaced at the thought. Their doctor actually thought it was extremely likely she would deliver any time now and this was _not_ where she wanted to go into labor.

“Oh thank God!” He let out a relieved sigh. “So you used your precarious situation to feign weakness?”

“Yes… I wanted him to lower his guard,” she said like it was obvious.

Robin stared at her for a few seconds again before nodding in approval. “Adequate.” They both spun in the other direction when a figure ran into the hallway.

“Marinette!” Nightwing yelled running to her. He ran up and hugged her tightly before pulling away just enough to check her for injuries. “Are you okay? How are the babies? Are you sure that wasn’t a contraction? The doctor said five weeks early wasn’t unlikely.”

Marinette stood stock straight. “Um… fine. I’m fine. Uh… Nightwing, right?” she asked awkwardly.

Dick immediately backed away. “Yes. Nightwing. That’s me. Right.” He forgot he hadn’t told her yet because Jason had called it from the beginning, he was a fucking dumbass. His eyes caught on a large patch of red on her sweater. “You’re bleeding!” He moved closer again to examine her.

Marinette gave him a confused look and examined her sweater for what he was seeing. Finally she saw the blood. “Oh, that’s not mine.” She gave him a sheepish look. “There’s a few people that could belong to and none of them are me or Robin.”

Nightwing blinked at her a few times, unsure how to respond to that. “Less talking, more moving,” Batman reminded him over the coms.

“Right. Let’s get going.” He took her hand and gently pulled her behind him as he moved. Robin naturally fell into position behind her, watching their rear. 

They seem to have had luck on their side once more. They made it to the lobby of the building with only a few more owls finding them, but that is where their luck ran out. They could see the exit doors when a talon stepped in their way, standing between them and the doors. Other owls entered the room, surrounding them. The three took in the scene apprehensively. “I estimate fifty owls and a talon,” Robin said conversationally, informing the rest of their team what was happening.

“Odd to only have one talon on call,” Nightwing agreed with a forced casualness.

“I’ve already taken care of one,” Batman rasped into the coms.

“Robin, you’re on protection duty,” Nightwing said quietly enough that only he and Marinette could hear.

“Of course,” Damian scoffed.

“We’re coming. Black Bat and I should be there in a few minutes,” Red Robin reported.

“We cannot let you take the Gray Son,” the talon spoke gravely.

“The Gray Son?” Nightwing asked, face scrunching in confusion.

“The prophesied one. Her child will be the perfect talon. He is the true heir,” the talon continued. Robin stiffened at his words, his stern expression tightening further. “The Gray Son of Gotham.”

Nightwing narrowed his eyes at the talon. They were after _his_ children? They were going to try to turn his children into one of _them_? How dare they? Maybe the children should take Marinette’s last name. There is the slightest possibility that might deter them. He mentally shook his head. That was unlikely and there was something else strange about the situation. “The Court usually waits to take children until they’re older. Why take these before they were born?”

“The recent failure forced us to ramp up our plan. The Court decided to start training the Gray Son in our ways as soon as he was born, to bring him to his destiny as early as possible,” the talon explained calmly, tightening his grip on his knives and subtly assessing the group.

“And what about the Gray Daughter?” Nightwing asked with a hostile edge in his voice, taking note of the number of weapons the talon appeared to have. Likely he had more, but the ones on display would give him an insight into what else he might have. He also took in how the other owls acted, their stances, their sense of hierarchy, their weapons.

“Of no consequence. We likely would have killed her along with her mother. You may keep them if that satisfies you,” the talon offered with a flippant tone.

“Sexist assholes,” Spoiler muttered over the coms.

Nightwing hummed in consideration, discretely looking around the room as he did. “I think we’ll leave with all three.”

“Then you’ll leave with none!” The talon launched at Nightwing. Robin pulled Marinette out of the way as Nightwing leapt toward him to block his way to Marinette.

Marinette tried to watch Nightwing fight the talon but couldn’t focus on him. Robin was pulling and pushing her around so she was out of the way of punches and kicks that might have connected with her. Luckily or not, they were aided by the deference the owls showed to the talon, giving him wide berth to attack and kill Nightwing. That left the space behind Robin and Marinette open, but it also meant that every time the owls pushed them back, it pushed Marinette closer to the talon.

Robin and Marinette kept an eye behind them. Marinette stayed as close to Robin as she could without infringing on his fighting too much. She had to stay away from the owls so they couldn’t grab her and take her to a different stronghold. She grabbed one owl’s arm when he tried to pull her, twisting to trap his arm and ramming her elbow into it with enough force to break his arm. The owl recoiled and Robin finished her attack. Unfortunately, that left her other side open, an opening that the other owls didn’t hesitate to take. Marinette screamed when the owl took her, alerting Robin to the new threat.

However, the scream also attracted Nightwing’s attention, distracting him from his fight with the talon. The talon launched at him, ripping into his skin with his claws. Nightwing let out a muffled cry, but pushed down the pain. He didn’t have time for pain right now. He had to protect Marinette. The talon would take advantage of any distraction, as he already had. He had to focus entirely on taking down the talon and trust his team to protect Marinette and his twins.

Marinette struggled against the owl that was pulling her away, but Robin just smirked at him and punched the owl next to him without looking. Marinette furrowed her brow in confusion until she felt the arms around her loosen and heard the owl fall to the ground. She turned to see Red Robin pick up the owl and throw him at the other owls.

“You’re late,” Robin snarked, turning back to fight more owls. 

“A Red Robin is never late. He always arrives precisely when he means to,” Red Robin answered lightly.

“Nerd,” Stephanie scoffed into the coms.

“Well, he should have meant to arrive a while ago,” Robin growled.

“Eh. You were holding your own. And Marinette’s been covering for your mistakes. You were fine,” Red Robin answered with a smirk as he hit several owls in one swing of his Bo staff.

“Besides,” Spoiler added, flying over the heads of a few more owls to land on the other side of Robin. “This isn’t the only part of the building with owls.” She punctuated her comment with a few well-placed kicks and swipes with her Bo staff. 

There was quite a bit of jostling, but Marinette had mostly been isolated from the attacks. The few owls that made it through the line were off balance, just barely making it through and making them an easy target. It was easy enough for Marinette to punch or kick them hard enough to make them fall and vulnerable to one of the other heroes. 

Signal worked from the side of the room to take down more owls, moving quickly and efficiently from one to the next and back again, using each as leverage to push harder against the other, adding power to his hits with his Eskrima sticks. Black Bat arrived in the room from another direction and made quick work of taking down the owls in front of her.

Marinette looked up when she heard a yell from Signal to ice the room. She did a double take seeing Snowflake blow into the room, making it freezing. She gaped at the sight. What was Snowflake doing in Gotham? Her eyes caught back on the fight between Nightwing and the talon. It seemed like the frost was affecting them both. She quickly glanced around the room and noticed the movements from the rest of the room slowing down slightly as well. Reaction times reducing little by little, but it especially seemed to have an impact on the talon. His entire fighting style changed. He was more guarded now, more protected, more afraid of getting hurt, giving Nightwing an advantage.

Marinette jumped when a body landed next to her. She had been so distracted by Nightwing’s fight, she hadn’t even seen him approach. She lunged to punch him, but the figure twisted along her arm. “My Lady!” He exclaimed loudly, holding up his arms in a placating manner. 

“Chat!” Marinette gave a relieved cry and pulled him down into a quick hug. She pulled back to notice he was wearing his ice form, which made sense if he was the one to bring in Snowflake. He had anticipated the change.

“You’re here! And you brought friends.” She grinned at him, pulling her back into a hug.

“Could have been a lot more too if _someone_ hadn’t hid the glasses.” He gave her a playfully scornful look that quickly turned into an analytical one. “You seem a bit less affected by the cold than I would have anticipated, Bug.”

She gave a devious look. “Wayne Enterprises tech fabric. Can’t even feel the cold except on my face, honestly. Plus,” she added innocently, “it’s impervious to fire. That seemed valuable in Gotham. Wouldn’t save me from the blast force from the explosion but would save me from any fires created… like if a cult’s building got blown up.” She gave him a serious look. “Not that I’m suggesting you cataclysm an entire building, of course.”

“Of course,” he gave her a conspiratorial grin.

“Plagg on the other hand…” she trailed off, letting him finish the sentence himself.

Chat nodded in understanding and looked around them, calculatingly. “Okay, this party has been fun, but honestly, not my scene. Ready to take our leave?” He looked at her again, focusing on her stomach. “This is going to be a bit more awkward than it used to be but… need a ride?” he grinned at her opening his arms.

Marinette smiled and let him pick her up. He was right. It was a lot more difficult than it used to be due to her belly bur they made it work. She could hold on if it meant the difference between her babies living and dying. She held onto his shoulders while he extended his baton taking them in a high arc, well above the owls, to the doors.

The talon growled and pulled out darts that could incapacitate them. Before he could use them Nightwing twisted in front of him, slamming an Eskrima stick into his hand hard enough to break it followed by his other Eskrima stick hitting him in the face. The talon hid his groan of pain and launched at him again with his good hand and his arm. His hand may be useless right now, but the rest of him could fight. He swung at Nightwing in a series of calculated punches that forced him back closer to the crowd of owls. Nightwing caught a glimpse of Marinette and Chat making it through the door and felt a new surge of strength. He looked back at the talon and launched into a volley of kicks and hits with the Eskrima sticks.

He pushed the talon back until he was on his knees, hitting him one final time to knock him out. He turned back toward the front doors and took off running to find Marinette. With the talon taken care of, there were only a few more owls standing and his family could handle them. He could trust his team. He had to focus on his family. But, with his focus on Marinette, he missed the talon sit up and aim a knife at him with his good hand.

A flash of light bathed the room in red for a moment. The talon seemed to be frozen for a moment until he moved in slow motion looking down at his chest and back up again just in time to see Nightwing run through the doors. His strength left him a second later, as he collapsed on the floor, unable to regenerate. 

Uncanny Valley watched impassively as he fell. Batman looked at her in shock. She looked back with a questioning look. “He was like the others wasn’t he? Like the ones in the capsules I destroyed? He wasn’t human. He doesn’t have blood. He was designed to destroy.”

Snowflake came up next to her and patted her on the shoulder as Signal knocked out the last owl standing. “You did good,” she whispered to Uncanny. She looked back at the bats. “Do you need us for anything else? I think I should get Uncanny back to her mom. I think she’ll need to talk.”

Batman stepped forward with a kind smile. “I think we can handle it from here. Thank you for your help. I don’t know if we would have been able to do it without you.”

Uncanny gave him a bright smile. “You’re welcome.” Snowflake nodded to them and guided Uncanny out the door with her.

“What did she mean he was like the others,” Red Robin wondered still watching the door they left through.

“She meant the room of talons waiting to be activated. I had Elsa freeze the room and Uncanny destroy each of the caskets and the talons inside with her beam thing,” Jason answered. “I confirmed the things inside won’t ever come back no matter how much electrum they give them.”

They all snapped to attention when Chat walked back through the doors. “Where is Marinette? Are she and the babies safe?” Spoiler asked.

“Of course they’re safe, idiot. Chat wouldn’t have left her unless she was safe and Nightwing had her,” Damian scoffed.

Chat gave a quick nod of agreement. “Like the little man said. She’s safe and with Nightwing.” He looked around with a practiced nonchalance. “So… how do bats feel about demolition with a single touch?” He asked waggling his eyebrows.


	27. The Time Has Come to Talk of Many Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Marinette finally talk

Nightwing landed on the roof Chat had taken Marinette to and immediately rushed over to her. He took a moment to study her, looking for any new indications of injury or distress. Assured there was none, he pulled her into a tight hug, unable to withhold touching her any longer. He needed to know she was safe. He needed to feel her in his arms, have that familiar weight. He needed to hear her reassuring, even breathing, to calm his own erratic breathing.

Marinette let out a surprised squeak and looked over to Chat in confusion. Chat stared at Nightwing with a concerned frown but didn’t move to detach him from her. Nightwing pulled away just enough to look at her face. He’d missed being able to look in her eyes. He cursed his mask being between them. Even with the mask, her eyes were sparkling in the moonlight but he would bet his guitar that her eyes would look even more beautiful, the sparkling even brighter, if he didn’t have his mask on. He reached up to cup her face, but she stepped back before he could reach her.

Marinette eyed him suspiciously and looked back to Chat to see what his reaction would be. Honestly, the most curious part of the whole situation was Chat just sitting back and letting Nightwing touch her like this. Something was going on and they both knew what it was. Chat would never allow just anyone to touch her in such an intimate way. He barely allowed it when Dick did it and he knew she had liked that contact. She turned back to Nightwing with a slight look of fear. If Chat was allowing him to touch her like this, what were they hiding?

Chat looked back and forth between the two for a few seconds before speaking up awkwardly. “Well, I think you’re in safe hands now, Princess,” he nodded to Nightwing with a severe glare. “I’ll leave you two to _talk_.” 

He gave a two-finger salute to them and jumped back toward the Court’s base. Marinette gave him a confused frown and turned back to Nightwing and raised a curious brow at him, her breathing picking up slightly. She waited a few moments for Nightwing to say something, but he seemed just as uncomfortable as Chat had, and unwilling to start the conversation. “Is everyone okay? Is Dick okay? Did anyone check on him? If they wanted my son, they may have wanted him as well.”

“Everyone is fine,” Nightwing assured her gently, his expression softening slightly from her concern.

Marinette let out a sigh of relief but then noticed how he was standing. He was cradling his side in a very familiar way. In the same way she and Chat would cradle their sides when they were injured in battle. “You’re hurt!” she exclaimed, rushing toward him to examine the wound.

“I’ll be fine,” he tried to protest, but Marinette wouldn’t hear it. She gave him an unimpressed look and pulled on his hand to move it. He reluctantly took his hand from the claw marks for her to examine. He hissed at her gentle prodding to gauge the severity of the wounds. “Stitches at least,” she mused. “You have someone that does that for you?”

“I do,” he nodded in affirmation, “back in the Cave.”

She nodded in approval, but the furrowed brow and slight frown of concern stayed in her expression. Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and looked around them. The buildings were mostly uninhabited, but there were still a lot of floors that could be occupied and have people watching them. He couldn’t just pull his mask off here and he couldn’t act too intimate in case someone saw and figured out who he was. “Are you really okay? Are the babies okay? Did they do anything to you? Why didn’t you wait for us?”

She blinked a few times to process the onslaught of questions. “I knew Chat would come but I didn’t know he was bringing the cavalry,” she pouted. Honestly, did he lecture everyone he saved? “I didn’t know how long it would take him to find me and I sure as hell wasn’t just going to sit back and let them take me to a secondary location or use me and the babies as a human shield. Do I _look_ like a damsel in distress?”

“It was incredibly dangerous,” Nightwing objected, trying to fight down his admiration of her fiery streak. He always knew she was fierce and feisty, but he hadn’t realized just how capable she was. Her belly looked like it weighed more than the rest of her, and she had still managed to make her way halfway to freedom on her own and help fight, albeit not much, in the last fight. “They could have killed you for trying to escape.”

“I can protect myself,” she answered indignantly. “I knew they wanted the babies for some reason, so they weren’t going to hurt me too badly and risk harming them, which gave me an advantage because I had no such qualms. I was willing to do what I had to in order to protect my babies,” she protested, laying both her hands over her belly in a protective gesture. “It was more dangerous for me to just sit around and hope.”

“Well, you definitely never have been the wait around type,” Nightwing chuckled affectionately. He watched her intently for a few moments, a concerned frown settling on his lips. “You sure you’re going to be okay? An ordeal like this… maybe it would be better to stay somewhere with better security for a while.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. “You have a suggestion?”

Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck. It was now or never… well not never, but he had to do it now. He’d put it off for too long. She’d waited for too long. He took a deep breath to ground himself and prepare for the long overdue conversation. “Marinette, I…” His reveal was interrupted by Marinette groaning in pain and crouching down. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“No. I _knew_ I shouldn’t have tempted fate. That was a contraction,” she looked down at her belly for a few moments. When she looked back up, her eyes were sparkling with surprise and anxiety and anticipation. Finally, her eyes seemed to settle on concern. “And I’m really early.”

“The doctor said you probably would be,” Nightwing said with a calm he didn’t actually feel. His tone was even but his mind was going faster than Wally trying to break a sound barrier. Everything that they needed to do, everything that might happen, everything that they had yet to discuss. But the most important thing right now was getting Marinette to a hospital. He reached out to guide her to the stairs.

“How did you know that?” She asked suspiciously, pulling her arm away from him.

“We need to get you to the hospital,” he answered instead, attempting to guide her toward the door to the stairway again. Once they were in the safety of the stairwell, he touched his ear. “Agent A, we need a car here immediately to take us to the hospital and a change of clothes, if you could.”

She shook her head and took a deep breath and let it out slowly grimacing in pain. “I need to contact Dick. He should know.”

Nightwing smiled lovingly at her. He ran his hand over her hair and cupped her face. “I’m right here.”

Marinette batted his hand away and furrowed her brow with an annoyed huff. “No offense, but I couldn’t give less of a fuck if _you’re_ here. _He’s_ the father, he should know. He’ll want to be there.”

“Marinette…” he took off his mask and looked to her with soft eyes. “I’m here.”

Marinette stared in awe at him for a few seconds. “Dick…” She touched his face carefully, reverently, like she didn’t believe it. 

“It’s me, Mari,” he said again, more gently this time, more vulnerable. He reached out to touch her again, this time she let him. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. This is what I didn’t tell you before.”

She shook her head blankly. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered.

“What?” Dick asked, quirking his head to the side. He expected a lot of different reactions to his reveal. That was not one of them. He was fully prepared for anger, hoping for forgiveness, but expected annoyance.

She looked up at the ceiling with an annoyed glare. “Very fucking funny.” Suddenly she gripped his hand hard and let out a pained whine. “Of course I’d end up with a hero.” She looked back up at him as they slowly made their way down the stairs. She suddenly stopped and stood rigidly straight. “Oh my God, I was wearing a Nightwing shirt and you were wearing a ladybug shirt when we met.” She groaned and bent over. “How did I miss that!”

“It’s okay, just breathe through it,” Nightwing encouraged her, rubbing reassuring circles on her back.

“That was a groan of frustration not pain. I should have called that, the cosmic joke that my life is.” She turned to face him with a narrow-eyed glare. “But if you say that to me when I do have a contraction, I’ll make you understand the pain making me make that sound.” She turned forward again and started making her way slowly down the stairs. “Just breathe through it,” she mocked.

Nightwing grimaced. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “That’s what the videos said to say. To help breathe through the contractions. Relaxing your muscles as much as possible and focusing on breathing instead, makes the pain seem less intense.”

“What kind of an idiot came up with that idea? Guarantee it was a man. Silly women, just breathe,” she continued in a mocking tone. “I’ll perform an appendectomy on him and see how just breathing helps _him_ with the pain,” she grunted as she waddled down the stairs. 

She paused mid stride and groaned in pain again. Nightwing was at her side in an instant, holding her hand and rubbing the small of her back and applying pressure to try to offset the contractions. As soon as the contraction passed, Marinette watched him analytically. He was suddenly very close to her, his face mere centimeters from hers as he encouraged her. She quirked her lips to the side, trying to figure out how she felt. 

Dick was here. He was here! He had come to rescue her. And likely everything he had done, everything he had lied about, was related to his secret identity. But it was more than that, wasn’t it? It was more than just the secret. She was keeping secrets from him, secrets she wasn’t ready to share until or unless she trusted him and she didn’t, not anymore. She narrowed her eyes at him again. “This is what you couldn’t tell me? This is what you lied to me about?” she asked confused. “You knew about my history with Chat and still thought I wouldn’t understand this?”

“I was tracking down a plot by the Court of Owls. When the talon said they had to change plans due to their latest failure, my team was the one that caused that. That was where I was going when we had that fight,” he answered quietly.

“And you thought, what? I wouldn’t understand? I’d freak out? Demand you leave it to be with me?” she demanded indignantly.

“I thought…” he hedged, his voice uncertain. “I thought I needed to protect you and if you knew you’d stop me. But I needed to do it. I needed to know I had protected you and our family.”

She gripped his hand and squeezed it, letting out a scream of pain and breathing heavily. “You absolute bastard.”

“Yeah, deserved,” he looked away guiltily.

“Oh, thank you for your permission,” she bit out harshly. “You’re damn right it’s deserved. Do you know how miserable I was when I realized you had lied to me? How confused I was? How lost I was? And you wouldn’t even _try_ to give any kind of an explanation. Nothing! I questioned everything. I thought you and your friends were doing something illegal. And then I was wrestling with myself because that didn’t seem right at all, but if that wasn’t it, I couldn’t figure out why you would hide it. So then I thought maybe you were getting forced into something you didn’t want to do, but then your family seemed to know what was going on so I thought that was unlikely. I thought you didn’t care about me.” She shook her head to try to calm her anger and returned to his words. “What was I to you then? An inconvenience you had to handle while you ran away to do your macho man business?”

“No! No, Marinette. I… was stupid and I was so caught up in protecting you and our babies, I… I’m sorry,” he pled.

“You certainly are.” She shook her head and opened her mouth to continue berating him but let out another scream instead. 

“Those are really close together.” He took note of the time to start calculating the time between contractions and made a mental calculation of how much longer it should take Alfred to get there. “Agent A should be here in just a few minutes,” Nightwing assured her.

“Agent A?”

“Alfred,” he elucidated.

“Of course,” she sighed with a nod. Her eyes suddenly opened wide. “Oh God, it’s your whole family isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he grimaced at her tone.

She shook her head again. “Figures.” She glared up at the sky again. “A normal life. That’s all I asked for. As normal as possible. But noooooo. Can’t let even one thing be normal. Can’t get a freaking break, because Destiny is a petty, mean bitch and has to get their sticky, meddling fingers into everything,” she muttered bitterly. She looked over to Dick with pursed lips and sighed. “Better put on your mask again unless you’re ready to let all Gotham know your identity.”

Dick’s eyes got wide again. “Oh Right!” He pulled the domino mask out of his pocket and affixed it again before pushing open the door to the sidewalk and the waiting car.


	28. You Can Never Go Home Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Dick make it to the hospital just in time and discuss living arrangements

“Okay Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” the doctor said pushing away from the hospital bed in the birthing center and pulling off her gloves. “You are completely effaced. We are definitely ready to go.”

Marinette looked up at Dick, an absolutely panicked expression on her face before looking over to the doctor. “What? What about an epidural? We had a birthing plan. It included an epidural.”

The doctor gave her a sympathetic look and shook her head slightly. “I understand, but it appears the universe had other plans. We are too far along for an epidural. You’re going to be pushing before the anesthesiologist will even be able to get here.”

“Fuck you,” she scoffed. Her eyes immediately widened at her words. “I’m sorry that was… I’m sorry. Doctor Graham, was it?” she clarified. The doctor nodded. Marinette smiled in response, which quickly turned into a grimace and scream as another contraction hit. “Fuck you, _Dr. Graham_ ,” she growled.

“There isn’t any way to get the anesthesiologist up there faster?” Dick tried, desperate for any way to help Marinette feel less scared and less pain.

Dr. Graham chuckled at Marinette’s outburst. “I get that a lot. Unfortunately, no. There’s nothing I can do. The anesthesiologist is with another patient right now and won’t be able to get here for about twenty minutes or more. I expect at least the first baby to already be born by then, maybe both,” she informed them earnestly. “Sorry. It took too long to get you here.”

“Well sorry for getting kidnapped by some bird obsessed cult,” Marinette gritted out after another contraction passed.

Dr. Graham looked over to Dick who shrugged at her. “The bats just saved her and we rushed right here.” Dr. Graham shook her head. Honestly, not the strangest thing she’d heard in Gotham. “We will need extra security because of it,” Dick added.

“We can have police in with the babies,” Dr. Graham assured him.

“Oh Hell no,” Marinette grunted.

“Police officers were the ones to deliver her to the cult,” Dick explained, running his hand up and down Marinette’s arm in a soothing motion.

Dr Graham nodded, again, not too surprising. “Do you have an alternative?” she asked as she gave orders to the nurses to get the room set up for the birth.

Dick shrugged distractedly, his focus on the pained expression Marinette was making and the way her body was curling in pain. “We can work something out. The bats seemed to know something about the cult. They might be willing to help keep watch.”

“Yeah, maybe we can focus on the baby trying to come out right now, yeah?” Marinette growled between pants.

“Of course,” Doctor Graham said kindly. “We’re already getting everything ready and I’ll let you know when to start pushing.”

Marinette nodded silently. She looked over to Dick, her look of annoyance with the situation turning to a look of panic. She was not ready for this. She was not ready for the twins to be born. She didn’t have everything settled. She and Dick hadn’t talked. She didn’t know where they stood. They hadn’t talked about where they were going to stay. She hadn’t even processed the kidnapping yet.

“It’ll be okay,” he cooed at her soothingly. He took her hand in his, bringing it to his chest as he wiped her sweaty hair away from her face. He looked lovingly in her eyes and gently rubbed his thumb along her cheek. “You can do this. You’re the strongest person I know. You’re amazing.” He kissed her temple. “I’ll be right here to support you however I can. Feel free to try to break my hand while you push.”

Marinette huffed out a short laugh. “I might take you up on that.” She breathed through another contraction, squeezing his hand and groaning loudly as it crested.

“Go ahead,” he assured her. “I can take it. I have the easy part.” He gave her a soft smile, until she turned to face the doctor and grimaced while her focus was elsewhere. She might actually break his hand at this rate. “Just focus on the end. When this is all over, we’re going to have two beautiful babies just as amazing as their mother.” She looked back up at him, uncertainty clear, but fading. “The universe can’t take you down. The Court of Owls couldn’t take you down. You can do this,” he whispered confidently. She nodded at him, a look of determination settling in as she felt the start of the next contraction.

“Alright Ms. Dupain-Cheng. It’s time to push,” Dr. Graham informed her with a smile.

<><><><><>

“I’ve been thinking…” Dick started, looking over cautiously to Marinette. She was sitting in a glider in the twins’ NICU room attempting to nurse Robert. Robert was doing extremely well, but his sucking reflex was still developing, making latching on more difficult for him than it was for Lucy. Lucy was resting comfortably on Dick’s bare chest, enjoying skin to skin contact under the simulated sun lamps. Her black hair sticking up above the blanket wrapped around her and Dick.

Marinette gave him a tired smile. “About?” she prompted.

“Living arrangements when Lucy and Robert are ready to go home. Robert’s doing a lot better now. I think he’ll be ready to go home in a few days. Lucy will probably be ready sooner,” he answered, turning to be able to make eye contact with Marinette while they talked. It had been a few days since the twins had been born and they still hadn’t had a chance to really talk. Between the coordination of taking care of the twins and making sure there were eyes on them at all times and the exhaustion on Marinette’s system from delivering the babies and after the kidnapping, there hadn’t really been time.

“Dick, I…” she started looking away guiltily.

“I know you’re not ready to date let alone move back in together,” he assured her gently, “this isn’t about that,” he assured her gently. “This is about their safety. The Court of Owls isn’t eliminated. They have multiple strongholds. This was a hard hit, but they aren’t gone.” He ran his hand through his hair and looked away nervously. “I don’t even think the apartment is safe.”

“The prophecy,” she nodded, tickling Robert’s cheek to try to get him to open his mouth wider. “This isn’t over is it?” 

Dick shook his head. “I don’t think so. It’ll take a while for them to recover, but I think they’ll be back.”

She sighed sadly and tried to focus entirely on Robert so Dick wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes at the thought of them returning, the thought that they would never truly be safe until the Court was completely eliminated. She ran her hand over his curly black hair. Whereas Lucy had gotten her mother’s straight, thick black hair, Robert’s was closer to his father’s. Little curls licked his face and curled away. “So, what were you thinking?”

Marinette may have turned away from Dick, but he still knew her well enough to know she was terrified and trying to hide it. He could see it in the way she hid her face. He could see it in the way her shoulders curled around Robert. He could see it in the way she held him just a little closer. He moved so he was sitting next to her and could cup her face with his free hand. 

“We’ll keep them safe, Marinette. We won’t let anything happen to them,” he assured her. The fierce determinism in his voice made her want to believe him. They would do everything they could to protect their babies. She leaned into his hand and nodded. “So, what I was thinking was… we should make sure they are as safe as possible.” She gave him a confused look, unsure why he suddenly sounded so tentative. “And the most secure place I can think of… is the manor.”

Marinette stared at him for a few seconds, mouth slightly agape in surprise. “You think we should move into the manor?” she whisper shouted. “Dick, I don’t want to live in Bruce’s home for the rest of our lives.”

“I know, I know. It’s not ideal,” Dick conceded. Before the kidnapping, he certainly would never have expected to propose returning to the manor. He had moved out for a reason and now, with Marinette and the twins, there were even more reasons not to. But, there was one overwhelming, overpowering reason they should. “But, it’s the safest place in Gotham, probably New Jersey, possibly in all of America. He has a ton of security to ward off cults, rogues, magicians, assassins, and everything else he could think of.”

“And it’s so big! What if the twins play hide and seek in a few years and we never find them? That place is too big,” she exclaimed.

“Okay, good point,” he allowed. It wasn’t and they both knew it. There was no way they, Kismet, or Alfred wouldn’t be able to find them, but he wasn’t going to argue that point. His focus was to get the twins under the best security they could manage, not get lost in the details. Not to mention, he had actually gotten lost in the manor a few times when he first moved there, so he knew getting lost was a possibility. It’s just that they wouldn’t stay that way. “But what if we take Bruce up on allowing him to build us a secure home. Our own home, with just as much security.”

“Dick!” she exclaimed loudly and immediately regretted it. She startled Robert off his finally successful latch and woke Lucy up. “Sorry,” she grimaced apologetically.

Dick chuckled at her and started bouncing Lucy to lull her back to sleep. “I know. I don’t really like the idea of asking him either, but we need some place safe. The Court of Owls is dangerous, extremely well connected, and apparently obsessed with our children. We need top of the line security and I don’t think we could afford it otherwise. I think it’s the only way to keep them safe.”

She stared at him silently for a few minutes. Not really sure how to react. He was right. They would need security, more security than they could afford otherwise. However, they did have built in security with the kwami, not that Dick knew about that yet. But it also wasn’t entirely reliable. The kwami couldn’t do much more than warn them if something was happening. They couldn’t act on it without potentially devastating consequences.

Dick spoke up after a few minutes, misinterpreting her hesitation. “I… I can live somewhere else. The most important thing is for you and the twins to be safe,” he offered.

“But they might come after you as well. You’re a Grayson,” she protested. If anything, _he_ and the twins needed to stay under the security’s protection.

“I can stay at the manor,” he assured her.

Marinette concentrated on Robert while she thought it through, running her fingers over his curls. She wasn’t ready to go back to the way they were. She didn’t trust him completely yet. Or rather, she trusted him, she just didn’t know if she trusted him with her heart. But she did trust him to keep her and the twins safe. She did trust him to protect them and to act respectfully. She trusted him to want to do what was best for them.

“No… why don’t we… why don’t we stay in the manor until we figure out where we want to go? Relationship wise.” she finally offered resolutely. Dick nodded in understanding. There was no reason to build a home for the two of them if they weren’t going to live together. Marinette and the twins would need security whether she stayed with him or not, but if they decided they didn’t want to get back together she should have a home of her own, away from him. “We can have our own rooms and the twins can stay in mine for the first few months, until the likelihood of SIDS is lower.”

“Bruce has a few very large rooms in the manor, would you… how would you feel about us both staying in the room with the twins, but in different beds? That way I can help better and you don’t have to do all the work by yourself,” he offered cautiously. He didn’t want to scare her off by pushing too hard or rushing her.

Marinette studied him uncertainly. That seemed awfully intimate, but at the same time, it would allow her some rest. He could change diapers and help get them back to sleep… “We can try it…”

“But if you start to feel uncomfortable, I can move to another room, immediately,” he assured her. 

Marinette nodded in agreement. “Okay”

Dick smiled again, a relieved, excited smile. He knew there was a lot to do. He knew he still had a long way to go, but they were making progress. They weren’t as bad as he thought they had been. “I know I have a lot to make up for and a lot to prove. I know I messed up and I want to fix it.”

“What do you think you messed up,” she asked curiously. 

“I think I was so afraid of losing you, I got obsessed with eliminating any threats that might hurt you. I… I couldn’t lose you like I lost my parents,” he answered honestly. “That’s not an excuse,” he insisted quickly. “It’s not an excuse because I know it doesn’t excuse my behavior. It’s just my reasoning. I didn’t even realize it until Lucius pointed it out at the fashion show. He also pointed out that you wouldn’t have let me go. You would have pulled me out of my obsession, and I knew that. So that’s why I didn’t tell you.

“I think that’s what I need to fix. We’re supposed to be a team. We were supposed to be in a relationship, but I was cutting you out. I saw that I was hurting you, but I convinced myself I was saving you from something worse. I think I messed up by cutting you out of my life. I’m going to change that.”

She nodded at him with tears in her eyes. “Okay. You know it wasn’t the secrets, right? You were allowed to have secrets. I didn’t begrudge you that. Hell, I have secrets I haven’t told you yet.” She looked down at Lucy when she started making whimpering noises. “Trade me,” she motioned for Lucy and held Robert out for him to take. He gently handed Lucy off to Marinette to nurse and took Robert, loosening his swaddle so they could do skin to skin time. “I want us to get to the point we don’t have secrets from each other, but we both deserve the time to figure out when we’ve reached that point.”

After a few minutes bouncing Robert, Dick looked back to Marinette with an open, vulnerable expression. “I spoke with Commissioner Gordon,” he started slowly. “And I quit the Titans. I’m going to become a police officer in Gotham. I’ll be here from now on. There might still be things I can’t tell you because it’s police business, but you’ll know why I can’t tell you now. And I know that doesn’t make up for everything I’ve done, but it’s a start.”

“Dick! You didn’t have to give up something you love for me! That’s ridiculous. Whether we get back together or not, you shouldn’t give up things you love to make someone else happy,” she exclaimed desperately. The last thing she wanted was for him to give up parts of himself, parts that mattered to him, parts he might be bitter about having given up later.

Dick shook his head emphatically. “I didn’t do it for you. Well, not just you. I was miserable whenever I was away. I hated missing you and the twins. I… I didn’t want to miss out on their lives like I missed out on the pregnancy. I don’t want them growing up without me.” He sat back down next to her again to look her in the eye again, close enough for her to feel his breath on her face. “I won’t lie. I want to go back to the way we were, but without the leaving and the lies.” 

He brushed her bangs out of her face and gently rubbed his thumb along her cheek. “I love you and waking up to you in my arms is one of the best parts of my life in the last few… years really. Kissing you, touching you, seeing your smile. All of the things I got to do with you were magical. I’d love to get that back, but I know I have work to do to get there. And I’m willing to put in the effort.”

“Dick…” she rested her head in the crux of his neck, angling Lucy away while she did. “It’s going to take a while.”

“I know. And I know we might never get back there, but I want to try.” He kissed the top of her head and rested his head on hers.

Marinette looked back up at him and nodded. “Let’s focus on getting the twins healthy and learning how to be parents. Then we can see how things feel.”

Dick smiled gently. “Okay.”

She shook her head and turned her head back to rest against his neck. “I owe Adrien 100 euros. I bet him I wouldn’t end up with a hero.”

“Technically I’m a vigilante. And we’re not together,” Dick corrected with a smirk, “… yet.”

She stared at him for a few moments before nodding resolutely. “You know what? I’ll take it.”


	29. Truth Will Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick discovers some unexpected visitors. It's Marinette's turn to explain.

Marinette slowly, carefully closed the bedroom door. She waited next to the door with her hand on the knob for a few seconds just to make sure Rob really had fallen asleep and wouldn’t start crying again. Hearing no noise for a full minute, she let out the breath she had been holding in case the sound from her breath woke him up. 

She gently removed her hand from the knob and silently padded toward the library, which had quickly become their regrouping center, much to Jason’s annoyance. However it was right across the hall from the room their family was staying in while at the manor and it had almost immediately been annexed as a place where she and Dick could relax and talk to people while still being close enough to hear the twins when they woke up. For quick naps and showers while the twins were sleeping, they used Dick’s room, which was just a little further down the hall. But the library offered a place that was more open to the whole family.

“And thank you two for not meowing or trying to sneak past me,” she cooed at Kismet and Alfred as she walked. All of the animals in the house had taken a liking to the twins and more often than not, Marinette or Dick were woken up by one of them scratching at the door to get into the bedroom so they could curl up with one of the twins or lay down at the base of one of the cribs. 

As long as they were quiet about it and didn’t wake up the twins, Marinette thought it was absolutely adorable. However, those rare times when their scratching or barks or meows woke up the twins, Marinette would send them a glare that had the dogs running with their tails between their legs and the cats… well, not really reacting at all until Marinette got the water bottle.

“He sleeping?” Dick asked looking up as she came in and chuckling at the line of animals trailing behind her.

“Welcome home. And yes. We have a little bit of time before they wake up again,” she smiled at him, slumping onto the couch next to him.

He hugged her into his unbandaged side, chuckling into her hair. “You want to take a nap?”

Marinette made a vaguely groan sounding noise and pushed away from him just enough to angle her head up to look at him with a sleepy smile. “I’ll do that during their next nap. I think I should eat during this one.”

“Do you want me to talk to Alfred?” he offered, half getting up as he spoke.

“I can make something for her,” Adrien offered, waving him down. “Or let Alfred know so he can. You can rest if you want.”

“Thanks, Adrien,” Dick gave him a grateful smile. “Actually, I think I’m going to shower. Get the Academy off of me.”

Marinette pulled her shirt away from her body and eyed it suspiciously. “Yeah, I’m not sure when the last time I took one was. Maybe I should do that during the next nap time instead.” 

Dick chuckled and pulled her closer. “You know, you could always take a shower with me…” he whispered into her hair.

Marinette blushed deeply and pushed his face away. “Yeah, not there yet. Food, sleep, nap, shower. Those are my priorities right now. And I’m extremely negotiable on the shower part.”

“Two of those were the same thing, Bug,” Adrien shook his head.

She narrowed her eyes and pointed at him as if challenging him. “All four can be the same thing if I try hard enough.”

Dick rolled his eyes but laughed in spite of himself. “You’ve been hanging out with Stephanie too much.”

Marinette scoffed. “If anything that’s Alya’s influence…” her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh God. They can never meet.”

Adrien scoffed this time. “Alya got that from you, not the other way around. You and Steph are the danger duo. Although you, Steph, Cass, and Alya… I’d be afraid for Gotham.”

Dick shuddered at the thought. The sheer chaos of it. “Just make sure I’m not on duty that night, please.”

Marinette giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. “How was the first day, Cadet Grayson?”

“Eh,” he shrugged. “Boring. Introductory stuff. Not that I’m expecting it to get better. I’ve known more about police procedure than most officers since I was eight. I can already pick out some of the cadets who joined as a power play. I also recognized a few people I bus…” he looked over to Adrien with a grimace, “…who I know I’ve seen on the news after the bats busted them. Which means either the person in charge of vetting entrants didn’t do their job, ignored the records, or someone on the force expunged their records. I already let Gordon know,” he gave out a tired sigh.

“You sound like you need a nap,” Marinette poked him in the cheek.

He hummed noncommittally as he caught her hand and brought it up to his lips for a kiss, causing Marinette to blush again and bury her head in his shoulder. If he kept doing little things like that, she didn’t know how much longer her resolve was going to last. But it had to last. They had to wait until they figured out their issues. They couldn’t rush it. 

“Shower first, then we’ll see what the twins allow for,” he smiled at her.

“How long will Clover and Hood sleep?” Adrien asked too innocently for his comment to not be intended to get a reaction.

“I hate you,” Marinette grumbled into Dick’s shoulder, but made sure it was loud enough for Adrien to hear. Adrien laughed hard at her reaction but immediately tamed it down after the glare Marinette shot him. If he woke up the twins, she really would hate him.

“Clover and Hood?” Dick asked unsure, looking back and forth between Adrien and Marinette.

“Lucy, Lucky, Four Leaf Clover, Clover. Robert, Rob, Robin, Robin Hood, Hood.” Marinette elaborated into his chest.

Dick stared at her for a few seconds, letting the logic train sink in. He glanced over to Adrien in time to catch his smug grin. He leaned down to whisper in Marinette’s ear. “We can’t let him call him after Jason.”

Marinette gave him a flat look. “You explain it without telling him who you are,” she whispered back, working hard to keep the smirk off her face. She knew Adrien knew who Dick was, but Dick didn’t know and was still trying hard to keep it a secret. Adrien knew that too, which is why he was having so much fun pushing his buttons.

“You can’t call my son ‘Hood’. You can’t go around yelling ‘Hood’ at a kid. People are going to think he’s a thief or that you saw Red Hood,” Dick finally reasoned. Marinette pouted at how he handled it. It was entirely too quick and well thought out. She was hoping for something more dramatic.

Adrien pouted at him. “Fine. That makes sense. I’ll come up with something else.”

“Good. That was subpar effort, K…” she suddenly woke up slightly and blinked a few times. “Uh… sorry. That was a terrible effort, Adrien.” Adrien gasped dramatically, pulling his hand to his chest in mock offense.

Dick laughed. “Okay, I’m getting up. You’re going to have to find another warm pillow.” Marinette mumbled something that might have been an objection, but made no move to stop him. He scooted out from under her, kissing her on the head as he left.

Adrien was trying to get Marinette to tell him what she wanted to eat and keep her awake as he was leaving. Dick shook his head and wished him good luck with that. When Marinette crashed, it was hard, a bit like Tim after a bender on a case. A tuba couldn’t wake her up. And yet, the slightest whimper from one of the twins would. He shook his head. Must be a hormonal thing.

He let out a deep sigh as he made his way to his bedroom to take a shower. He wished they were going to take a shower together, or a nap together… or something more, but they weren’t there yet, and he knew that. They were still figuring out some lingering trust issues. Marinette trusted him, but not when it came to not lying about something he thought was important, which was fair, because that was something he needed to settle with himself. 

He was so used to deceiving people to cover his vigilante work and to do what needed to be done, he was having a hard time remembering he didn’t have to do that with Marinette. It had been ingrained in him that he was the leader and therefore took the brunt of the decision and all the worst of the consequences, so he forgot he was supposed to be sharing responsibility and decisions with Marinette for the rest of his life. The things he was doing were the way Batman would do them and he wasn’t Batman. He didn’t want to be Batman. That wasn’t his dream. His dream was having a loving family, preferably the one he had already started. He wanted to be Lucy and Robert’s father. He wanted to be Marinette’s husband, someday. He had to change how he thought to make his dreams come true. He had to retrain his brain and it was taking time. 

He turned on the shower and started to undress before remembering he left his shower things in the bathroom off the family bedroom. He groaned, dreading the idea of going back into that room while the twins were sleeping. Lucy was like her mom, she could sleep through most things, except the animals making noise. Robert however inherited his father’s tendency to wake up at the slightest sound. 

He anxiously looked around for something else to use, but there wasn’t anything in his bedroom or bathroom. He groaned again, turned off the shower, and padded back to the family bedroom. He paused outside the room to prepare himself and plan how he could be as quiet as humanly, or possibly even more than humanly, possible. His whole body went rigid when he heard talking in the room. Nobody was supposed to be in the room. Marinette had left it with just the twins. She would never have left so calmly if anyone else were in it, even a family member. 

“Come on, Sugar Cube. This is offensive. Look at this long nosed monstrosity. It should be a cat. I should _accidentally_ destroy…”

Dick stopped listening at the word ‘destroy’. He tensed for a fight and burst into the room with a yell. The two figures hovering over the cribs squeaked in surprise and the elephant stuffie Marinette had made, which seconds before had been in the black one’s hands… paws? In the black one’s _grip_ suddenly evaporated in a stream of dust and ash. Dick froze in surprise unable to make sense of the image in front of him.

Marinette and Adrien rammed into Dick in their rush to check out what was happening. The push broke Dick of his paralysis. He moved between the floating figures and the twins. “Who are you? What do you want?” He quickly picked up Robert when he started fussing at the sudden noise.

“Plagg… Why is there a pile of ash on the floor?” Marinette glared at him.

“Pla… you know what these creatures are?” Dick whipped around to stare at her.

“Yes,” Marinette admitted with an annoyed glare at Plagg. “Let’s get Robert back to sleep and talk in your room.”

Dick looked at her incredulously. The red figure obediently flew through the wall into the next room, but the black one stared at him as if challenging him. Adrien silently moved over to it and grabbed it by the tail to fling it out the door with a huff. Dick slowly turned to Marinette, staring at her questioningly. She gave him a strained smile and gently took Robert out of his arms. She laid him in the crib, gently rocking him in his swaddle in the crib and turned on the mobile above his bed. It took a few more minutes, but Robert was soon sleeping again. She motioned out of the room with a comforting smile.

Dick glared at her, but followed her to his room as requested. She carefully closed the door behind them. As soon as she got to his room she glared at the black figure. “Plagg, what the hell just happened?”

“Hey! It’s not my fault! Pompous circus boy was supposed to be in the shower in his room. Instead he’s sneaking around like a _fox_ and scared me.” He flew toward Dick but Adrien grabbed his tail again to stop him. “Talk to the annoyance, not me,” he grumbled crossing his arms over his chest.

“I am talking to the annoyance,” Marinette gritted out.

“That hurts, Bug,” he responded in a mock hurt voice.

“Not as much as it’s going to. No camembert for a month,” she growled.

“A month!” His eyes suddenly were as large as the rest of him.

“Are you kidding me right now?” she exclaimed loudly. “You’re objecting to a month? You’re lucky it isn’t six!”

“Bug, have mercy on a poor, innocent, protective cat,” he bent his knees and brought together his hands as though he were praying in front of her.

“It was my nursery! And my pompous circus boy you just exposed yourself to,” she threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

“Hey! I have no idea what’s going on here, but I’m fairly confident I’m justified in objecting to that,” Dick interjected.

Marinette looked over to him as if just remembering he was in the room. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It would have been so much better if this happened after a nap. I…” she collapsed on the edge of the bed. “I don’t know where to start.”

“You knew those things were here.” It was a statement not a question.

“Yes,” she confirmed with a short nod.

“And you didn’t think it was worth mentioning?” he questioned, skepticism lacing his voice. This wasn’t some small thing, some small secret. These were magic, probably, creatures roaming around his kids and his home. Creatures Marinette knew about and never discussed with him. Creatures Marinette exposed his _children_ to and never discussed with him.

“You didn’t think your nightly activities were worth mentioning when you were missing half the pregnancy?” Marinette raised her eyebrow with a pointed look.

Dick grimaced slightly. “Okay, point taken. But I remember getting yelled at for keeping it from you. I remember you breaking up with me for keeping it from you and you were keeping something just as big from me.”

“No, you got yelled at for lying. We broke up because I couldn’t trust you after all the _lies_. I was asking you questions and you were _lying_ in response. We were still finding out about each other, figuring each other out, deciding how much to trust one another. I told you before, you were and are allowed to have secrets and that I had some too. This is one of them.”

“Okay fine. I don’t know that I agree with that logic, but okay. Let’s shelve that to come back and bite us later. But can someone explain…” he motioned toward the floating figures.

“Well you see…” Adrien started, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I think he means me,” Marinette interrupted. The exhaustion seeping out of her voice and listless posture.

Adrien looked between the two of them. “Oh, right. Why don’t I…” he looked around uncertainly. “Why don’t I leave you to it then?” He turned to look at Marinette sincerely. “Unless you want me to stay around, just in case.” He eyed Dick suspiciously.

“I’ll be okay, Kitty,” she assured him. “We were going to have this conversation soon anyway. This just pushed it forward by a few weeks.”

“I’ll stay, just in case,” Plagg insisted, floating up in front of Dick’s face with a malicious grin.

“No, you won’t. Not if you’re going to threaten my babies’ father,” Marinette chastised sternly.

“Fine! No threatening him. I’ll just stay… and keep Tikki company,” Plagg offered petulantly.

“No. I don’t want either of you here,” Dick objected. Plagg looked affronted but Tikki gave him a look of understanding and started tugging him toward Adrien. “I don’t want creatures with unknown powers, actively destroying things, to be around my children.”

“Why don’t I take them both tonight? You guys should be pretty safe here in the manor. If you need us, we’re just a phone call away,” Adrien assured her. He opened his pocket for the kwami. Tikki zipped over to him but Plagg held his position, attempting to stare down Dick. He was fuming from the suggestion that he would ever hurt the twins. He’d been with the twins more than Dick had and yet Dick was kicking him out! The unmitigated gall!

“Thank you, Adrien,” Marinette answered quietly. “Plagg,” she spoke up. He kept facing Dick but his ears twitched indicating he had heard her. “Plagg, thank you for everything you’ve done. Let me speak to Dick alone please.”

Plagg huffed at her. “I don’t wanna.”

“I know,” Marinette moved over to him and scratched between his ears. “But, Adrien’s right. We’ll be safe tonight. You’ve been on babysitting duty for seven months straight. You can take a break for one night.”

Plagg huffed at her again, still refusing to move. Tikki flew out of Adrien’s pocket to tug on him. “Come on, Stinky Sock. Let them have some time alone.” 

Plagg finally acquiesced, but sent a final glare to Dick. “Fine. But if he hurts her…”

Tikki pushed him again. “He won’t hurt her. Come on protective cat. You’re causing more damage than good.”

Adrien let out a relieved sigh and nodded to them. Just before leaving the room he turned and gave a pointed look to Marinette before shifting his eyes down to his ring with a nod. Marinette smiled at him with an understanding nod at his wordless permission to divulge his identity.

She slowly turned back to Dick. She shifted anxiously from foot to foot, her entire body tense. This was not the way she wanted to tell him, but then again Dick hadn’t gotten to dictate the terms of either of his reveals either. Neither of them got to prepare for the deep, meaningful conversations. But, even if timing might be against them, she had faith they could do this. They had always been able to communicate, excepting the lying portion, they had always been able to talk through their concerns and worries. She just had to breathe and be honest. They could do this.

Dick studied her carefully trying to read the situation from her body language. She was nervous, but not at all about the creatures. She was completely at ease with them despite the stuffie incident. And Marinette was one to catastrophize. She was more likely to anticipate the worst than just blithely accept it. Which meant she is thoroughly familiar with them and their powers. She was completely confident they did not pose a threat to their children. No, that wasn’t what she was nervous about. She was nervous about him and how he was going to react to the situation. He sighed and leaned against the desk. Their lives were a complicated mess. “Let’s start slow. What did you mean he’s been on babysitting duty for the last seven months?” Dick finally asked.

“Plagg has been with me constantly since the pharmacy incident,” Marinette answered quietly. “That incident scared Adrien and the kwami a lot. They wanted Plagg to be with me too in case something else happened. I wouldn’t transformed while pregnant, especially not with Plagg, but he could do other things, like let Adrien know where I was if I got kidnapped and lead him to me.”

Dick stared at the door Adrien had left through, the clues slowly starting to click into place. “Because Adrien is Chat Noir. That’s why Chat is so protective of you, because he’s Adrien.” Dick’s mind was racing through all the implications, missing the way Marinette winced in response to his wrong assumption. He looked over to her as something else clicked into place. “When Chat said he had you bugged, he meant that thing. That that thing…”

“A kwami named Plagg,” she supplied.

“That… Plagg was with you,” he finished. She nodded. “And that creature… Plagg, how dangerous is he?”

“Depends,” she bobbed her head to the side in a wishy-washy motion. “Kwami are the physical embodiment of concepts. Tikki is the embodiment of creation and good luck. Plagg is the embodiment of destruction and bad luck, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I haven’t discussed it with Adrien, but I’m pretty sure the destruction of the Court of Owl base where they were holding me, was Plagg. I don’t think Adrien could have done it that completely. It had to have been Plagg. They are linked to physical objects that a person can wield, when transformed their power is a lot more controlled by the wielder. But Plagg has control too.”

“He accidentally destroyed a stuffie,” he gave her a pointed look.

She waved off his concern as she rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t accidental.”

“You can’t know that,” he said cautiously. She may be comfortable with having a creature like this around his children, but he definitely wasn’t.

“If it was accidental, there would have been a whole lot more damage and no ash trail. The destruction would have been complete. When he accidentally destroys things, entire cities disappear. Entire orders of animals become extinct. That was a controlled, focused use of his power. Likely because Robert was showing a bit too much attention to that stuffie rather than the black cat stuffie.”

“Okay…” He eyed her suspiciously, not entirely convinced.

“Also, I should warn you. Intentional use of his power to punish can result in destroying a cult’s stronghold or… sinking a city,” she gave him an overly wide, tense smile.

“Like Atlantis,” he nodded in realization.

“Like Atlantis,” she confirmed. “Apparently he still holds a grudge too. Your friend Garth, he’s Aqualad, right? He has to be. Plagg was acting up all night when I met your friends. Every time Garth came near me, Plagg was pitching a fit. I couldn’t figure out why and he wouldn’t tell me.”

“That’s what that noise was!” Dick gasped. He had thought something was going on. Some emergency at the office because her purse had been buzzing constantly. “I thought your phone just kept going off.”

“No, just Plagg being overprotective and not wanting him near me. I had to keep hitting my bag. I’m surprised your friends didn’t think I had muscle spasm problems,” her eyes widened in embarrassment remembering that part of the night.

“Okay… so that’s why you had Plagg, because Adrien asked you to keep him. Is it the same for the other one Teachi? Did her wielder ask you to keep her too?” He cocked his head to the side, a slight furrow marring his brow as he tried to force the pieces together.

“Tikki. No.” She looked away nervously and ran her hands up and down her arms to try to calm herself down. She knew there was no reason to be nervous. Dick wouldn’t reject her or be mad at her for having been a hero. But he was the first person outside of her team to know. The first new person who would find out and she could never take it back and that was terrifying. She had to be absolutely sure of him. 

But she was. She was sure about him. She wasn’t sure if they would end up together. She wasn’t sure if they would get married and have more kids, but she was absolutely sure she could trust him, at least with this much. And she was absolutely sure she didn’t want to keep it from him any longer. “Tikki is with me because she’s my kwami.”

“Your…” he stared at her. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise. “You’re Ladybug!”

“I was. _That’s_ why Adrien was so protective. We were partners. When I said we were always together during attacks, that’s why we were. When I said we died for each other… that’s why we did,” she finished quietly.

“You were a hero,” he breathed out, barely above a whisper.

“I was,” she confirmed again with a slight laugh. He had the most adorable gob smacked expression on his face like it was the last thing he would have ever thought, which, with the magic glamour, might be the truth.

“Oh my God!” He slapped his forehead and fell onto the bed next to her. “I was wearing a Ladybug shirt when we first met. You were wearing a Nightwing shirt!”

“Yeah,” she giggled. “You’re where I was a few weeks ago.”

“That’s why Adrien and that… Plagg kept calling you bug. I thought it was because you are so small.” Marinette scowled at him but he was so caught up in the revelations and puzzle pieces finally coming together. “But that didn’t make sense that Plagg would call you that until now.”

He turned to her, a glint of awe in his eyes. “I remember seeing video of you in action. I checked out Ladybug and Chat Noir after you mentioned them when we first started dating. You were amazing.”

“Thank you,” she bowed her head graciously.

“I mean you still are. I didn’t think I could think you were any more amazing than I already did, but you were so impressive in action. Your moves and your confidence, your compassion and your creativity.” He looked away to process the new information and come to grips with his newfound admiration. He thought through some of the fights he’d seen footage of, some of the moves he remembered. She had been absolutely amazing. Everything he admired about Marinette but amplified because of the extreme situations. He shook his head at the fights he remembered until one of them caught in his head. One incredulous, ridiculous, asinine move. “You jumped into a dinosaur’s mouth!”

“I… did,” she grimaced at the reminder. Not her best moment, but it worked.

“Oh God. No wonder you and Jason hit it off so well.” He shook his head at the thought of the two of them fighting together. Jumping into a situation relying on luck and determination to get them through. They would fit far too easily together in a fight. “Oh my God, the rest of the family is going to go insane when they find out. Wait,” he looked over to her with a questioning look, “were you planning on telling them?”

“I… hadn’t decided yet, but I don’t think so. I thought I might eventually tell them about being Multimouse or the dragon, but not about Ladybug.” Dick frowned slightly. If anyone could understand being a hero and weighing normal life with that life, it was them. They could understand her in a way few others could. “It isn’t that I don’t love them and trust them it’s just… you know our villain, Hawkmoth? He wanted our miraculous because combined, it gave him a wish. One wish that could rewrite reality. Could destroy a continent, or a planet, could bring perpetual wealth, or health, could make one immortal or bring someone back from the dead, but at a cosmic price. I just… I don’t know. If your brothers knew of that power. If your brothers lost someone and knew all they had to do to get them back was take the jewels and make a wish, but if they did there would be a price. Do you think they would restrain themselves? Or do you think they would find a way to sneak them away from me and Adrien to make the wish, whatever the consequences?” 

Dick stared at her, a concerned frown on his face. She was right. He knew she was. If they lost Bruce again, he had no doubt Damian would do anything to bring him back. If Tim ever lost Kon… If any of them had a child that was lost… He massaged his forehead trying to ward off the migraine he knew wanted to start with all this new information bombarding his brain. 

“That’s why I took so long to tell you. There’s so much damage that can be done. I’ve never… we’ve never… neither of us has ever told anyone else. The core members of our team know, but nobody else. There’s six people in the universe who know who we are… now seven.” She looked at him gravely.

He took a few deep breaths and eyed her apprehensively, letting the seriousness of the situation settle over him. Finally he nodded in agreement. “So we don’t tell the family. Is there more I should know?”

“If we’re going to stay together, yes. But I don’t know if I’m ready to go there yet. Things only Chat… Adrien knows.” She studied him carefully for a moment before one side of her mouth quirked up a bit. “I’ve had it drilled so thoroughly into my head that I can’t let anyone know, it feels strange to be able to be honest with someone else. I’m glad you know.”

“I’m glad I know too.” He moved closer to her and cupped her face, gently stroking her cheek. “I can’t wait until we both know all of each other’s secrets,” he whispered, slowly leaning toward her.

Marinette smiled. “You have more secrets to tell,” she whispered back with a teasing smile.

“So many.” He nodded, his eyes focused entirely on her lips as he leaned closer still. “I’ll make some up if I have to.” He smirked at her eye roll. He was close enough now that he could feel her breath fanning out across his face and she wasn’t backing away. She wasn’t pushing him for space and that fact alone was making his heart soar. 

He was just about to close the gap when she quirked her head to the side and sighed. “That sounds like Lucy, which means Rob will be up too.” She gave him an apologetic smile and moved to go nurse them.

Dick let out an exaggerated sigh and fell back on the bed. He suddenly shot up as a thought occurred to him. “He knew I was Nightwing and Jason is Hood when he suggested the nickname for Rob.”

Marinette laughed at the offended look on his face. “Oh, definitely.”

“That bastard. I’ll show him. I’ll introduce him to Wally as a punishment. He’ll never be able to get another word in again. Hey, wait up.” He jumped up and rushed over to her, slinging his arm around her waist and planting a kiss on her temple. “I’ll change their diapers for you.”


	30. Written in the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Dick decide what their future will be.

“Congratulations Officer Grayson!” Bruce boomed, raising his glass along with the rest of the room of friends and family. A loud cheer rose up in agreement with his comment.

Dick smiled at them graciously and clinked his champagne glass with Marinette’s juice glass, pulling her closer into his side with his other hand. Marinette squeezed him back and looked up at him with a proud smile.

“Finally, someone who can fix my tickets,” Jason cheered.

“Not going to happen. In fact, I might write more up for you. Did you know parking your motorcycle in an alleyway is a moving violation?” Dick answered with a smirk.

Jason gaped at him, every inch of him conveying the betrayal he felt until he finally looked down to Lucy in his arms with a sour look. “Man, fuck the police. Can you say that? Fuck. The. Police.” He enunciated each word slowly for her.

“Language Master Jason,” Alfred chided.

“Jason, do not teach my children to badmouth their father,” Marinette warned with an accompanying glare.

Jason huffed and returned his attention to Lucy. “Fine whatever. But the cursing’s okay, right, Pixie?”

“No,” Dick answered quickly before Marinette could respond. He really wasn’t confident what her answer would be considering the language she used when she and Jason were hanging out.

“Wasn’t asking you, Dickhead,” Jason singsonged while making faces for Lucy.

“Don’t badmouth their father while they can hear you, Jason,” Marinette repeated with a sharper edge to her voice this time. “And I’m fine with you teaching them to curse as long as you’re willing to deal with the repercussions of Alfred and my Mother finding out exactly where they learned it from.” She shrugged casually as she said it but the smirk on her face when she looked up at Dick made it clear she knew exactly how much of a threat that was.

Jason pouted and focused on Lucy. “Your Grandmother and Grandfather are both deceptive bad asses. Never cross either of them.” The room broke in laughter as Alfred grinned smugly and nodded in approval.

“So what are you going to do now, Officer Grayson?” Stephanie asked as she bounced Rob to quiet his fussing.

Dick rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t really know. Hang out with the family, I guess.”

“I have a celebratory dinner planned unless you have other plans, Master Dick,” Alfred stated, looking at Marinette questioningly.

Dick looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment before answering cautiously. “I don’t think I do. Do I?”

“It’s up to you. I was thinking maybe we could go out for a celebratory dinner. Together. Just the two of us,” Marinette offered quietly.

“Like on a date?” His face brightened considerably.

“If you want it to be,” she answered shyly, suddenly not able to look in his eyes. Suddenly, it felt dangerous to offer. Her heart was pounding. What if he changed his mind, which was ridiculous because he still acted the same as he had when they first started dating. But some part of Marinette, the anxiety controlled part, insisted there was still a chance, and as always happened when anxiety entered the arena, it took over, regardless of rationality.

Dick wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, adoration shining in his eyes. “I do.”

Marinette let out a relieved sigh and an exhilarated smile spread across her face. “Great! I know just the place.” A devious glint appearing in her eye. The same look she got whenever she had come up with a brilliant plan. She looked him up and down, taking in the dress blues he was still wearing from his Academy graduation. “You should change before we go though.” She looked down at her dress. “I should too if we’re taking the bike.”

“I’ll watch the rug rats while you’re gone,” Jason offered as he wiggled Lucy’s hand that was wrapped around his finger.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll watch over the infants to ensure they are safe and adequately mentally stimulated while they are awake,” Damian offered loudly, a confident look on his face.

Dick raised his eyebrows in surprise at Damian and looked down to Marinette to see if he was really hearing what he thought he was. That was by far the strangest outcome of the situation, Damian taking his position as the twins’ uncle with deathly seriousness. He watched over them like one of his pets, until they started crying. Then the twins were their parent’s or someone else’s problem.

Marinette smiled knowingly at him and nodded almost imperceptibly to assure him that Damian was in fact offering to babysit. Dick subtly glanced to the more responsible people in the room to see if they would be there as well. Barbara, Alfred, and Bruce all nodded at him to assure him they would stay as well.

“I’d help too, but… I have plans,” Adrien shrugged, deftly changing the topic of conversation before another fight over who the best uncle was could break out between Jason and Damian. Which was absolutely ridiculous anyway. Clearly, _he_ was, precisely because he did things like taking this hit.

“With Wally?” Marinette asked innocently.

“Yeah,” Adrien answered a little too breathlessly.

“Ooooooohhhhh,” Marinette teased with a knowing smirk. Dick grinned. He had introduced Adrien to the Titans when they stopped by to meet the twins and take a second shot at meeting Marinette, this time without them having to hide anything and with Plagg sequestered in Dick’s bedroom, nowhere near Garth. As expected, Wally and Adrien hit it off _extremely_ well, the enthusiastic, bubbly, romantics, that they were.

“Shut up. It’s not like that,” he grumbled looking away from them. He wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction of seeing his lovesick expression.

“Yes, it is,” Marinette, Dick, and Stephanie all chimed at the same time.

Adrien’s cheeks blushed a deep rose color and he growled halfheartedly at them as he left. “Good luck,” Marinette called to him. He waved and stuck his tongue out at her as he closed the door. Marinette giggled and turned back to Dick. “I’m going to feed the twins while you’re changing.”

“Okay. I’ll take a quick shower too then.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek before making his way to his bedroom.

Marinette nodded and took Lucy from Jason, who only gave her up grudgingly. “And we’re going to get you ready, too,” Stephanie informed her as she slung her free arm over Marinette’s shoulder.

Marinette laughed and shook her head. “We’re going to have about two hours between when they eat and when I have to be back to feed them again. I’m not wasting any of that time on appearances. If Dick is still willing to go on a date with me after sharing a room with me when I hadn’t showered in I don’t know how many days, he will be fine with me not having a ton of makeup on.”

“Okay fine,” Stephanie groaned before immediately brightening again. “I’ll do stuff while you’re nursing then,” Stephanie insisted, completely ignoring Marinette’s objections.

Marinette sighed and shook her head. This was not worth the effort. She was not willing to put what little energy she had into debating personal boundaries and priorities with Stephanie, and apparently Cass, judging by the excited glint in her eye. “Fine. Just don’t get any makeup or hairspray on Lucy or Rob while they’re eating.”

Stephanie squealed and handed Rob off to Barbara as she and Cass raced to her room to get everything ready. They only had about ten to fifteen minutes to treat Marinette like their own personal doll and they weren’t about to waste any of it. Marinette looked over to Barbara and Tim with a questioning glance. “Either of you two want to get in on this?”

Tim waved his hands in front of him. “Hell no. I’ve seen them in this mode. I’m not getting in the middle of that. Good luck.”

Barbara laughed and rolled over to her. “I’ll come to help. At the very least I can hold one baby while you feed the other one… and laugh at you while they work their magic”

Marinette giggled at her as she rolled her eyes. “So very magnanimous of you.”

<><><><><>

Dick’s entire body relaxed as he sped through Gotham’s streets. He had missed driving through the streets of Gotham with Marinette’s arms wrapped around him. They hadn’t done it since she was only a few weeks into the pregnancy then quickly had to switch to a car when it became too dangerous and awkward for her to ride with him. He loved feeling the rush of the wind against him and the warmth of Marinette’s arms and body pulled tight against him. The way their bodies moved in sync with one another as he turned or changed lanes.

“Make a left here,” Marinette yelled. He nodded his acknowledgement and made the turn. They were in a very familiar neighborhood. “Right,” she yelled again. He nodded again and made the turn. They drove straight for a few blocks until Marinette yelled the final time. “We’re here.”

Dick chuckled and shook his head as he pulled off his helmet. “Batburger?” He raised his eyebrow at her.

Marinette shrugged and pulled her helmet off as well, giving him a sweet smile. “Thought we could try it again when I’m not pregnant. See if it really was just the pregnancy that made it taste so good.”

“Want to eat in the park again?” he asked as he secured their helmets. He took her hand, entwining their fingers as they walked into the restaurant. 

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” she nodded at him.

“I think that sounds brilliant,” he assured her, pulling her against him and circling his arms around her waist.

“You ready to order or what?” the cashier asked in an annoyed voice.

Marinette giggled into Dick’s chest. “Not a fan of romance,” she whispered.

“Two batburger deluxe meals, please,” he looked over to Marinette to get her approval. When she nodded in agreement he returned his focus to the cashier to pay.

Their order was done in just a few minutes and a few minutes after that they were looking out over the same park and sitting on the same bench they had sat at during their first date. Marinette took her first bite and quirked her lips to the side before continuing to chew.

Dick laughed and swallowed his bite. “So, what do you think?”

“It was definitely the pregnancy. But it’ll do. It was more about the nostalgia.” She grinned up at him and took another bite.

“How about you? What do you think? Are you excited for your first day as a Gotham Police Officer?” She grinned up at him, the proud look gleaming in her eyes again.

He smiled at the look, his chest puffing out ever so slightly at the way she was looking at him. “I am. I’m really hoping I will be able to make a difference, within the police department more than anything else. I think if I can make a difference there, weed out as much corruption as I can, then that will feed out into the community, more than anything I could do as a single police officer.”

Marinette nodded in agreement. “I think you’re right. I’m worried about you though.”

Dick grimaced and considered not telling her the next part, but he’d promised her and, more importantly, himself, that he wasn’t going to keep things from her just because it might worry her. He took a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve already been approached by one of the families to work for them. Saw him talking to a few other cadets as well.”

“Dick!” Marinette gasped, eyes wide with concern.

“It’s okay,” he assured her with more calm than he felt. “Commissioner Gordon and I expected it. It would actually be more concerning if I didn’t get approached by anyone.”

“I know. It just makes me nervous.” She looked down at her burger and took another bite so he wouldn’t see her concerned frown. “Your fellow officers are supposed to have your back, not stick a knife in it.”

“I can handle myself. I’ve been trained since I was nine to take on more than a few rampant officers.” He puffed out his chest in an exaggerated motion to distract her. “I’m like Captain America in the elevator. I can take on all of them with nothing more than a stick and win.”

Marinette giggled and buried her face in his shoulder trying very hard not to laugh at him. She finally pulled her face out of his shoulder to look up at him in adoration. “You’re better than Captain America,” she assured him. “Just as skilled, better moves, smarter plans, better leadership, and all without the need of a super serum.” She brushed his hair away from his forehead and traced along the side of his face down to his jaw. “And much handsomer.”

She guided his face to hers and pressed her forehead to his. She let out a deep breath before continuing. “Just… make sure you come home to me, to us, every night.” She looked back up at him with concern etched deep in her features. “Please.”

“Every night? Forever?” Dick asked hopefully.

Marinette paused to think about it. That was what she had meant. Without overthinking it, without letting anxiety dictate her thoughts, that was what she had wanted. That was what she was asking him for. They had been waiting so they could figure out some issues they had between them and within themselves. Dick acted to protect without sharing. She hid away entire parts of her life. They both had needed to learn to open up more. 

She was ready. She was ready to break down the last bastion of secrecy hidden in the depths of a magical fortification. If Dick wanted, she was ready to let him in. The question was whether he was ready.

She nodded slowly, her forehead still pressed against his, her breath fanning across his face. “I’m ready. I’m ready to move forward, but I don’t want to rush you. I don’t want to rush us if we aren’t both ready. I want to make sure we last.”

Dick grinned and ran his knuckles along her cheek. “We’ll last. It was written in the stars. The universe brought us together. And we’ll take on the universe if it tries to tear us apart.”

“And win,” Marinette giggled affectionately, the smile on her face brilliant and hopeful.

Dick grinned against her lips. “And win,” he agreed solemnly. “That’s a very important part.” She grinned at him and gently brushed her lips against his. She started to pull away but he followed her, pressing his lips against hers more urgently. She pushed back against him, bunching her fists into his shirt, pulling him closer with it. He wound his arms around her waist, pulling her into his lap. 

She whimpered against his mouth as his hand moved up her back until it wound into her hair. The sound made his heart race. God, he had missed this feeling, the feeling of her lips against his, of her body against his, the exhilaration her sounds produced in him. He missed knowing she was his to touch, that she wanted him to do it. He missed the way they fit, like a perfectly engineered puzzle box, each piece fitting into the other so precisely, anything else felt wrong. 

She moved her arms around his neck, working her fingers into his hair to pull him closer. She needed to be closer. She had missed his warmth and the way he touched her and now she couldn’t get enough. She needed more. She tilted her head to deepen the kiss, opening her mouth to grant him access. She moaned as his hands traced her face and worked down her sides and back up her back.

She finally pulled away breathless after a few minutes and smirked at him. “Definitely more enjoyable without the nausea.” She rested her head against his neck as she fought to recover her breathing.

“Glad to hear it,” he laughed. He hugged her closer to him, keeping his arms tight around her. “I missed kissing you,” he whispered as if afraid to break a spell.

Marinette grinned and kissed his neck. “Me too. I missed kissing you, hugging you, being held by you,” she looked pointedly at their situation, “sitting in your lap, calling you my boyfriend.”

He hummed in agreement and nuzzled his head against hers. “I’d prefer fiancé or husband, but I’ll take boyfriend for now.” He smiled thinking of the ring he already had stuffed away in his drawer. 

“You’re ready for that move?” she pulled away in surprise.

“I’ve been ready for months. Even after our fight, I’ve never changed my mind. I love you Marinette. I am completely, utterly, ridiculously, unapologetically in love with you.” He leaned down to kiss her, slowly, sweetly, passionately. “I know what I want my future to be. I’m just waiting for you to decide if it’s what you want too.”

Marinette stared at him in awe. She shook her head and buried it in his neck again as tears began to fall. “Marinette?” he asked carefully, trying to pull away far enough to look her in the eye. He wasn’t expecting tears. That was… a concerning reaction. He didn’t think suggesting they eventually marry would make her cry. Damn it, way to kill the mood just as they were getting back to a great place.

She took a breath to steady herself, a breath that very much smelled like Dick. She pulled away enough to look up at him, love shining in her eyes. “I don’t know exactly what I want for my future, but every time I picture it, you’re there with me. Every iteration of it you’re there with me. Sometimes with just Lucy and Rob, sometimes with more kids. Sometimes in the manor, sometimes in our own place. Sometimes in Gotham, sometimes somewhere else. Sometimes I’m running a major fashion label, sometimes I’ve become a WE employee. Sometimes you’re still an officer, sometimes you’re a detective. But every version, every iteration, you’re there with me. I know that much. That’s all I know. I love you and I want my future to be with you.”

He examined her eyes to look for any indication of uncertainty in her words, but her eyes were confident and adoring. He surged forward to capture her lips in another searing, breathtaking kiss. The moan she let out into his mouth made his body react viscerally. They needed to get somewhere more private before they continued. “Maybe we should take this home and away from prying eyes,” he gasped out when he was finally able to force himself to break away. She nodded wordlessly, still trying to catch her breath.

<><><><><>

“Perfect timing,” Barbara smiled at them. Lucy was rooting into her chest searching for something to latch onto. “They just started fussing and searching for milk in places they won’t find it.”

Marinette laughed and took her from Barbara. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem. I feel worse for her. She’s never going to find what she’s looking for here. Hate to be a disappointment.”

“If it makes you feel better, they find me to be just as much of a disappointment,” Dick offered. “No milk, no value.” He shrugged.

“Come here, sweetie. Don’t let them shame you for knowing what you want.” She stuck her tongue out at them and left the room with a smile. 

Dick picked up Rob from Duke with a smile and a nod of thanks. “Anytime,” he shrugged as he handed Rob off. “So… how did it go?”

“Hm?” Dick responded absentmindedly, checking Rob to see if his clothes needed to be changed too or just his diaper.

“How did it go? How did the date go?” Stephanie elaborated annoyed by his lack of attention.

“Oh,” Dick’s eyes brightened and he grinned excitedly. “It went brilliantly. We’re back together and we know where we want to go with our future.”

“So… proposing within the year or within a few months?” Tim asked with a smirk.

“Pft. Knowing Dickieboy, within a few hours,” Jason scoffed popping a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

Dick ticked his head to the side. “Considered it, but I want to make it romantic.” He turned to Tim with a wink. “Give me a few days. Come on, Rob. Let’s get you changed and ready for Mommy. Night guys.” He smiled at them as he carried Rob to the family bedroom.

“Have fun tonight,” Stephanie called after him with a laugh.

“No more babies tonight,” Jason called immediately after. “Turn the movie up. I don’t want to hear them ignoring me,” he grumbled to Duke.

Dick made it up to the family bedroom just in time to change Rob’s diaper, reswaddle him, and switch Lucy for Rob so Marinette could nurse him. She took him with a smile. “Did I hear Jason yelling?”

“Yeah, he was just saying how happy he was that we’re back together,” Dick assured her with a laugh.

Marinette chuckled then immediately quieted when the movement startled Rob. “Sorry Rob,” she cooed at him.

Dick swaddled Lucy quickly and laid her down in her crib. “How about I set up a movie in the other room?” he whispered into her ear as he gently ran his hand over Rob’s head.

Marinette hummed in appreciation and pressed her head against his. “That sounds wonderful,” she whispered back.

He kissed her temple and quickly made his way to his bedroom. He pulled out a few fuzzy blankets and navigated to a movie he thought she would like. He ran down to the living room where the rest of the family was and grabbed one of their bowls of popcorn and a few drinks. “Thanks,” he called out to them as he ran away before anyone could stop him. He set up the popcorn and drinks on the side table and propped up a few more pillows for them to lean against while they watched the movie, if they did in fact watch the movie, though he really hoped they would be too busy doing something else.

He kicked off his shoes and double checked that everything looked perfect. Assured that it was, he made his way back to the family bedroom. He had expected Marinette to be done already and come find him. He silently opened the door to check on them and smiled at the scene in front of him. That was why Marinette hadn’t come to find him. She had fallen asleep nursing Rob. Rob was lazily sucking at her breast in his sleep. Dick shook his head at her.

Dick picked up Rob and put him back in his crib. He fussed sleepily for a few seconds, trying to get back to the nipple, but quickly fell back asleep. Marinette opened her eyes at the movement, arms reaching out to keep Robert from falling. She looked up at Dick with a hazily confused look. “What’s going on?”

Dick smiled at her and made his way back to her, picking her up in a princess hold and carrying her to her bed. “We have the rest of our lives to watch a movie or do anything else. Tonight, I think you need sleep,” he told her quietly as he gently laid her down, pulling a blanket over her.

She hummed in response and pulled the blanket closer around her. He kissed her cheek and ran his fingers over her face lovingly before pulling away to get ready for bed. Before he could move away from her, she caught his hand and pulled him down next to her. She looked up at him with soft, affection filled eyes. “Please stay?”

Dick’s heart stuttered at the request, so open and vulnerable and filled with love. He smiled at her and climbed into bed next to her as she lifted the blanket for him. “Always,” he whispered into her hair. He settled in behind her and gently pulled her against him, feeling her warmth against him as she curled into him and he curled around her in a perfect harmony.


End file.
